A minor incident
by Flan
Summary: Cloud is acting like a mother hen. Leon smells like a hobo. What will happen next! No spoilers past KH2.
1. Smelling like a hobo

**This is a Leon and Cloud story. Don't like? Don't read!**

**Constructive criticism welcome! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy.**

**Warnings**: **Yaoi, language and OOCness. **

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Cloud awoke to a loud 'thud' on the bedroom door. "The fuck!" He said as he sat bolt up right. He heard giggling coming from outside the door. _'That sounds like Leon,' _he thought. And, sure enough, Leon came stumbling though the door.

"Cloud. -giggle- Cloud, did you know that there's a door there? -giggle-"

"Yes, I did. Where have you been?" He gave a small whiff, "you smell like alcohol and cigarette smoke, are you drunk?" Cloud asked groggily. And by the amount of stumbling Leon was doing, Cloud thought it was safe to assume that, yes, Leon was indeed, drunk.

Leon, still gigging, said "A little. -hic- Been hangin' with the guys."

Cloud's eyes narrowed. "The... guys?"

"Yeah, you know, -stumble- Axel and Riku, hic and Cid."

Sighing, Cloud got out of bed and went over to Leon. "Why did you go out drinking?" He asked, putting an arm around Leon's waist to help him stand. "You know you can't hold your liquor."

Leon stopped giggling long enough to mumble something about a fight they had had.

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--Flash Back--

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_They were in the middle of Hollow Bastion square. They had just got off patrol, and Cloud said he was going to go over to the market to get some ingredients for dinner._

"_I'll go with you," said Leon._

_Cloud turned around _"_Why do you always do this?"_

"_Do what?"_

"_You're always following me!"_

"_What? No I'm not," Leon said defensively._

"_Yes, you are," the blond hissed. "You __**always**__ assume I can't do __**anything **__by__ myself! When I go on patrol, you __**always**__ have to go with. When I go shopping, you __**always **__have to come. Why are you __**always **__smothering me?!"_

"_I am not smothering you, I'm just looking out for you!" Leon said as he threw his hands in the air._

_Cloud snarled in frustration as he tugged on his hair. "Well, maybe I don't need you looking out for me! I can take care of myself!"_

"_I know you can take care of yourself, but it doesn't hurt to have some help! But if you're going to be like that, then maybe I won't even bother anymore!" Snapped the brunette._

"_Fine!"_

"_Fine, you bitch!" Leon shouted as he stormed off._

"_I am not a bitch!" Cloud yelled after Leon's retreating back._

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--End Flash Back--

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Cloud winced at the memory of their fight. '_I shouldn't have yelled at him,_' he thought. '_Though he didn't have to call me a bitch.'_

Leon started to giggle again, for no apparent reason. Cloud gave a sigh_, "_Lets get you cleaned up." Leon nodded, still giggling.

Cloud helped Leon over to the bathroom with some difficulty. He propped Leon against the sink and begun to pull off his shirt. The pants were a bit more difficult, do to Leon wiggling and laughing "it tickles!" every five seconds.

Once Leon was fully undressed, Cloud sat him on the toilet. "Stay there while I start the bath,"

the blond said. "And don't fidget," he put in as an afterthought. He bent over the edge of the bathtub and turned it on. He put his hand under the running water to test if it was too hot, and started to hum softly as he did so.

"Cloud, I'm tired," Leon whined.

Cloud turned his head a bit and said, "I know babe, but I'm not going to sleep next to someone who smells like a hobo." he turned back to test the water again. Calling it good, the blond stood up.

He turned to address Leon and nearly jumped out of his skin when he came nose-to-nose with his lover. "For fucks sake, Leon!" he said as he clutched at his heart. "Don't _do_ that!"

Leon was doubled up with laughter. "Your... face..." he said between breaths, "was priceless!"

Cloud glared, "I'm glad you find my face so amusing," he said testily. "Now get in the bath."

Still snickering, the chocolate haired man nodded in consent as he stepped into the tub, hissing at how heated the water was. "Whys the water so hot?" he mumbled in a rather begrudging way. Cloud, choosing to ignore Leon, reached over the brunet in order to grab the shampoo. After pouring some into his hand he closed the lid and set the bottle down. Kneeling, he started scrubbing at the other's hair.

They sat in silence for a while. That is, until Leon said, in a desolated voice, "Do you think I'm pretty?"

"... What?" Cloud said in confusion.

"It's just, Axel said that you were pretty. And I asked him if he thought I was pretty, and he said no. He said I'm more the handsometype. And then Riku agreed with him..." He slurred out.

Cloud stopped scrubbing for a few seconds, staring in disbelief at Leon. "Are you serious...?" he sighed exasperatedly, "you socialize with them way too much. They're a bad influence. Every time you're around them you always come back acting obnoxious."

"I can 'socialize' with whoever I want. I'm not a child, Cloud." Leon snapped angrily. "At least I'm not hanging out with that Vincent guy."

"And what's wrong with Vincent?"

"Nothing. If you like creepy little fu-"

Cloud smacked him upside the head. "He is not creepy. He's just... eerie."

"It's the same thing!" Leon laughed.

"Oh, shut up," the blond said grumpily, grabbing Leon's head so he could start scrubbing at the mess of swarthy hair.

The long dark strands were slick with water and shampoo, flowing gracefully through Cloud's fingers. After a while, the cerulean eyed man deemed that the 'hobo' smell was gone and rinsed the shampoo out; careful not to get any in his lover's eyes. "And yes, I do."

"You do what?" Leon asked, wrinkling his forehead in confusion.

"Think you're pretty."

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**-Happy dance- SooOooo, what did you think? I know Leon is a bit OOC, but he's drunk so... yeah.**

**I'd **_**really **_**like to know what you thought of it. And if there are any errors let me know, k?**

**The second chapter is in progress, but I don't know when I'll be done with it.**

**And if you have any ideas for a beter title let me know. This title was based off the song 'A minor incident' by Badly drawn boy, And it doesn't fit that well. I think it would fit a Axel and Roxas fic beter. **


	2. The hangover

The next morning, Cloud woke up to an empty bed. '_Where's Leon?' _he asked himself as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He got up and went into the kitchen. Leon was sitting at the table with his head in his hands, a cup of coffee next to him.

"Hey," Cloud said tentatively, walking over to the table to sit down. The brunet didn't look up but gave a small grunt. "Does your head hurt?" Cloud asked.

Leon gave another grunt.

Cloud, taking that as cave-man for "yes," got up and went over to the cupboards to look for one of the potions Aerith had given them. The azure eyed man handed the potion to the brunet.

Leon gave his thanks as he took the stopper out of the bottle. Knowing that the taste alone would probably make him spew, he chugged it down in one go. Luckily his stomach didn't try to hurtle it back at him.

Cloud went over to the fridge. After opening it he stared at the contents, wondering what he was in the mood for. _'Hmmm, what should I have? I could have pancakes. No, wait, I had pancakes yesterday. Then I threw them up... But that was Yuffie's fault. Why does she jump on everyone? I wonder if she got it out of her hair yet...." _wrinkling his nose in disgust he turned to Leon. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Nothing."

Sighing, Cloud turned back to the fridge. He decided on bacon and eggs. He got the food out and put the skillet on the stove.

It was peaceful as Cloud started on the eggs. Then Cloud's conscience just _had_ to started nagging at him.

_'You know he's still upset with you. You should apologize. You shouldn't have yelled at him yesterday. Just say "Leon, I'm sorry." That's all you have to do.'_

_'Oh, shut up. I'm not going to apologize. I've got a lot on my mind. And I haven't been getting enough sleep.'_

_'__I know. But that's no excuse. Just because you're having nightmares doesn't give you the right to blow up at him.'_

_'How do you know I've been having mad dreams?'_

_'Cloud, please. I _am_ your conscience. I know everything you know. And don't change the subject.'_

_'Fine, fine. I'll apologize.'_

"Hey, Leon?"

Leon turned his head.

"I'm s-"

The blond was cut short by a loud crash from the bedroom.

Leon snapped his head toward their room. Then both men slowly made their way to the closed door. With his heart beating fast, just as it always did before a battle, Cloud gave Leon a look.Leon nodded. Cloud opened the door so Leon could rush into the room. Cloud hurried in after him, and they launched themselves forward, tackling the intruder to the ground.

There was quite a bit of thrashing around, in which Leon kept getting hit in the face by the old man's elbow. Old man? Long beard, pointed hat....

"Merlin!" The brunet exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" Hurrying to get up he helped the elderly man to his feet.

"Sorry Merlin," said Cloud, getting to his feet as well. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," said the timeworn man, brushing the dust off his robes. "But might I ask _why_ you felt the need to slam me to the ground?"

Leon put his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose and sighed in exasperation. "You can't just pop into people's homes and expect them not to react. And you broke our table."

Sure enough, looking around all three pairs of eyes fell on a broken pile of wood lying by the bed.

Merlin had on a sheepish expression as he tried to explain, "Ah... Yes, well.... You see, I was in a bit of a hurry to get over here, and I guess I must have miscalculated my landing...."

Cloud could see that Leon was getting a bit fed up with the old man, so he decided to move things along. "Why were you in a hurry to get over here?" He was a bit miffed about the table, but he did not let it show. If there was one thing he'd learned in life, it was to never show your true emotions. Save for the times he was alone with Leon, of course.

Jumping at the chance to stop babbling, the elderly man cleared his throat. "Cid has some important information for you both. It involves the security for the upcoming festival. Something about bodyguards for 'The Others'."

"Who?" Leon asked in tired confusion. He really didn't want to hear about another job he and Cloud were "required" to do.

"'The Others'. It's the band that will be playing at the festival. I've never heard their music, but Yuffie and Tifa say they're quite good."

"Since when have you ever listened to what those two say?"

Merlin, pretending he did not hear Leon, coughed and said, "I better be going now. Remember to go see Cid. He really needs to talk to you." And with these parting words, he vanished, leaving behind a cloud of gray smoke.

"Crazy old loon," Leon muttered darkly. "Just what I need. More work."

"Well, isn't it Cid that you should be mad at?" said Cloud, unaware of the glare Leon was sending him. "He's the one that's dealing out the jobs. Or you could even be mad at 'The Others,' whoever they are. And yo-"

"Either way," Leon said through clenched teeth, "it's still more work that we _don't_ have time for." He turned to go back to the kitchen then turned around again. "Oh yeah. What did you want?"

"Huh?" Cloud had no idea what Leon was talking about.

Leon sighed again. "You were about to say something, remember? Back in the kitchen. Then the thing with Merlin happened and you where cut off. So, what were you going to say?"

"Oh, yeah. Um." He didn't know how to say this. He had never been very good with apologies. And the way that Leon was looking at him, like he was going to rip off his head if he didn't spit it out soon, wasn't helping. "Ya know yesterday....? Um, I'm sorry I yelled at you. I know I shouldn't have. I was feeling overwhelmed.... and I guess I took it out on you. So.... yeah. Sorry"

Leon's facial expression changed immediately to one that reminded Cloud of a man that was being forced to divulge a secret. Leon averted his eyes. "I know you are."

"But ya know, just because I was feeling overwhelmed doesn't mean I wasn't right. You do tend to smother. I know you don't mean to. I know you want to protect me, but I can take care of myself."

"I know that. It's just I... I'm used to having someone to protect. I'm used to.. well, _girls._ I know we've been together for a long time, but I- I guess I've never really gotten used to the fact that I don't need to look out for you all the time. But I don't- I just-...Well, I know that you've been through a lot...in the past, and I don't think you should have to go through... _that, _again."

And by "that," Cloud knew Leon was referring to his ex-boyfriend, Sephiroth. He and Sephiroth had had a very... odd relationship. As in, Sephiroth had been a controlling and abusive asshole.

The first time Leon had ever met Cloud and Sephiroth had been four years ago and the young couple had just moved to Hollow Bastion. Leon was introduced to them by Cid. Cid knew almost everybody- from the people who came to visit, to the ones that were here to stay. Mainly because he owned the auto repair shop and was head of the committee. And partly because he was friends/enemies with Yuffie, Tifa, and Aerith, the three top gossipers in Hollow Bastion.

The thing that really stuck out to Leon, was that Cloud had always acted so... _submissive _when he was around Sephiroth.

But when he wasn't with Sephiroth, he'd smile, talk, and sometimes he'd even laugh.

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~ Flash Back~

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"_Cloud?"_

_Cloud turned around. "Hey, Leon," he said with a small smile. "What are you doing here?"_

"_Just doing some grocery shopping. You?"_

"_Seph and I are shopping for some furniture. He's in the store right now." He gestured to the shop that was across the street._

_Leon looked around and saw Sephiroth talking to the store clerk. "Why aren't you in there with him?"_

"_Oh... I was getting in the way. Seph's always been better at the whole negotiation thing anyway."_

"_Hmm. How are you guys doing in the new place? Everything working okay?"_

"_Everything's fine," Cloud said. But Leon saw the smile become forced before vanishing from the blond's face._

_He frowned sightly. "You sure everything's okay?" Thinking maybe Cloud was just having a bad day, Leon asked: "Do you want to go out with me tonight?"_

_A head of blond hair shot up. "What?? Leo-"_

"_No, no, no!" Leon hastened to explain. "I didn't mean it like that! I just wanted to know if you wanted me to show you around. I don't want to go out with you!" Realizing that that had sounded offensive, he quickly added, "Not that I don't find you attractive!" God, what was wrong with him?! He was making a complete ass of himself! This is why he usually never spoke!_

_Cloud's head was bowed and his shoulders were shaking._

_'Oh, god! I made him cry!' Leon thought. He reached out a hand and put it on Cloud's shoulder. "Hey, um, I didn't mean- that is, I- I just, um," Leon stammered awkwardly._

_Cloud sharply toke in a deep breath, lifting his head as he did so. Then he let out the most beautiful sound Leon had ever heard in his life. It was a laugh. But not one of those polite little laughs he usually heard from the man. It was a full-fledged, genuine, no holding back, laugh._

_'God, he's so se-' Leon began to think, but he was interrupted by Cloud saying something._

"_I haven't laughed like that in _so_ long."_

_Some breaths, and a couple more chuckles later, Cloud finally succeeded in pulling himself together. But he still had a rather stupid looking grin on his face. "I would like to-"_

"_But, sadly, Cloud will not be able to," said a cold voice from beside them. Sephiroth was standing just a few feet from them, face unreadable._

_'How the hell did he get there so fast? I didn't even see him come over.' The brunets' eyes narrowed as he said, "I think Cloud can speak for himself."_

"_Well then," a slight sneer playing across the older man's face as he turned. "Cloud, do you want to go out tonight with this.... heh, _man?_"_

_Cloud's face had become just as unreadable as Sephiroth's had been. "No," he said. His voice held no trace of the mirth he had been overcome by just mere moments ago. Instead, it was colorless, deflated, and all together lifeless. Leon tried to make eye contact, but Cloud was stubbornly avoiding his gaze._

"_There, you see?" he said to Leon. "Now, come along, Cloud. We have a few more shops to go to." Sephiroth steered Cloud away, turning his head just enough, so as to see the leader of the other man's face. "Nice to see you again, Leon," he said in a mockingly polite voice._

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_Leon didn't see Cloud for two months after that._

_-_

_When he finally did see him, the blond acted like nothing was wrong. Even when the dark haired man viced his concern, the younger said he was just imagining things._

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~End Flash Back~

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"Leon? Leon, are you okay?" Cloud had looked over and saw his lover staring off into space. You might think it's no big deal, but it was a _very _big deal. For Leon rarely, if ever, stared off into space. Yeah, sure, he may be quiet, but he was always alert. Always on the lookout. Always vigilant. And _always_ answered when Cloud called. "Leon? Can you hear me?"

Leon jerked his head up, realizing Cloud was talking to him. "Hmmm? Sorry, I didn't hear you."

"I said, are you okay? You were spacing out."

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just the after effects of the potion."

"Maybe you shouldn't go on patrol tonight," Cloud said slowly. What if he started spacing out on the job and someone attacked him? No, it would be best if he didn't go out tonight. "I'll cover your shift if you want."

"No, I'll be fine. The spaciness never lasts that long. Don't worry."

"But wha-"

"Cloud, just yesterday you blew up at me for doing the same thing you're doing right now. Don't you think that's a bit hypocritical of you?"

Cloud gave a mumbled "fine," then sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?"

"Oh... Um, I hate to break it to you, but I think it's from the eggs you left on the stove."

The blond turned to face Leon. He looked confused for a moment, then his eyes got huge. "Shit." He dashed out of the room at top speed.

Leon made his way to the kitchen. He knew that Cloud was pyrophobic, and if the kitchen was on fire the blond probably wouldn't be able to handle it alone.

When he finally made it into the kitchen, there were flames shooting up from the frying pan, Cloud was searching in the cupboards for something, and Leon was just staring at the black smoke billowing up to the ceiling.

"Shitshitshitshitshitshit!" Cloud kept repeating (to no one in particular) as he rummaged through the cabinets and shelves.

Leon asked the frantic man what he was looking for, not really looking at him, but eying the growing flames instead. He wasn't so keen on the idea of a burnt-up kitchen. He may not cook that often, but he still would like to have the option.

"I'm looking for the fire extinguisher! Why can't I find it?!" The blond yelled franticly.

"That would be because Axel took it last week," the other man answered.

Cloud went rigid. "And what," he started to say as he turned around, "are _we _supposed to do?!"

"Cloud, calm down. I-"

"DO NOT TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! Your pyro friend took our fire extinguisher!"

"I know, but-"

"No, Leon! No 'buts'! Our kitchen is on fire! What are we going to do?!" Cloud was officially freaking out. Leon just sighed, then walked over to the flaming stove. "Leon, what-" Cloud fell silent when he saw what Leon was doing.

Leon was holding out his hand, aiming it at the stove. A burst of icy blue mist came shooting out of his palm. As the fire slowly died down, Cloud stared at what now resembled a black hunk-o-metal. He fell to the ground, sitting with his back against the lower cupboards. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out a bit shakier then he had meant to. '_What is the matter with you? Why can't you get over your fears? It's been two years since Sephiroth died. Why do you still react this way whenever you see even the smallest of flames? You stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid-'_

Leon wasn't looking at Cloud, so he couldn't see that the younger man was lightly thumping the back of his head against the cabinets. Instead, he was looking at the damage to the stove. '_It's not so bad,' _he thought. '_All we need to do is clean it up a bit. We can have Cid fix it if we have to.' _He tilted his head up and sighed at what he saw. There was a humongous whole in the ceiling. '_Now_, _that might take some work.'_ "We probably have most of the supplies out back. All we really need is the time to fix it," he said, more to himself than to Cloud. "Abusively we can't today, we have to go see Cid. Then we have patrol..." He slowly trailed off when he turned around and saw what Cloud was doing.

He walked over to the blond, hesitating before crouching down in front of his lover. "Cloud?"

Could stopped banging his head against the cabinets, but he did not answer. His head was bowed, so Leon wasn't sure if Cloud had his eyes open or shut. "Cloud, please look at me."

"I could have done that," Cloud said, in a voice that sounded a bit water logged. "I could have, _if _I wasn't such a fucking _coward."_ He spat the last word out with as much venom as his stuffy tone.

Leon sighed, "That's ridiculous-"

"Is it? Leon, we had to get a new stove because I couldn't stand to work with an oven with a pilot light! We can't have candles in the house, we've never used the fire place. I can't even go into a bar because of cigarettes. Leon, I'm a coward."

"No. Cloud, you've gone through something that most people couldn't even imagine."

"Please. I saw someone die. People die every day."

"Yes. But the emotional and mental attachment you had toward him was...."

"Insane?"

"Intense."

"Still, Leon, what am I going to do? I can't be afraid forever."

"Exactly. This won't last forever."

"How do you know?" Cloud asked sceptically.

"Because... the doctor said so. And because I believe that you'll get past this."

Cloud didn't see how he was going to get past his fears. It's already been two years. He didn't want to worry Leon, though. So instead of voicing his doubt, he smiled a watery smile and said "Okay."

Leon was happy Cloud was still trying. He didn't want him to give up. Leon stood up and extended his hand to the blond on the floor. Cloud took it and stood up as well. Leon wrapped his arms around his love and nuzzled his face in the crook of his neck. "I love you, Cloud. I love you so much."

Cloud sighed contently. "I love you, too."

Leon would have loved to stay like this forever, but they had people to see and things to do. So he pulled away and said: "I think before we go to Cid's, we should get something to eat. What do you think?"

"Heh, I think that's a great idea." He grabbed Leon's hand and slowly licked one of the digits. "But first I think we should build up an appetite."

"Mmm. I like the way you think." He watched as the blond's tongue went up and down and around and- But he has things to do. _They _have things to do. So, with reluctance, he pulled his hand away. "But it'll have to wait till tonight."

Cloud pouted and said, "Fine." Then he leaned forward and whispered "But as soon as we get back and the front door closes, you're mine."

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

**__**

**Wow. That took 4-ev-AH!**

**It's not my fault (yes it is), the plot bunnies jumped into my bran and made whoopie. Srsly. The plot changed sooo much.**

**And I have like, two more stories in meh head. =[**


	3. Someone from your past

After stopping at Atlantis Café(1) for a quick bite to eat, and some more coffee for Leon (Cloud didn't drink coffee), Leon and Cloud made their way over to the committee's office. It used to be a small house that Merlin lived in, located just outside the shopping district. When the restoration committee was first established, they asked Merlin if they could use his house for a meeting place. He had refused at first, but when they still hadn't found a place a month later, he agreed that they could use his house for the time being. That was over 6 years ago. They all still said that the house was just temporary, but they were never able to find another location that they could all agree on. Aerith always said she liked the house. She would say: "It's like we're one big happy family." Then she'd smile and everyone would just drop it. No one liked to argue with Aerith. She was just too motherly. And, at times, scary.

As they came around the corner, they could see the small house. It looked very rundown. Most of the windows were closed up. Thick Curtains hung behind the pains of glass. The door, which was made of thick planks of wood, had a big wooden owl hanging above it. Leon really wasn't looking foreword to going inside. It wasn't that he didn't love his job, he did. It was just, he didn't feel like being around people today. Especially the three people that he went drinking with just last night. Who just so happened to be members of the committee. They would undoubtedly be standing just behind the door, waiting for him to arrive. Leon had said some pretty private things whilst he was drunk. Things about him and Cloud. He just knew he would have to endure their knowing looks throughout the entire meeting.

"Stupid alcohol," Leon grumbled. "Making me say things..."

"What are you mumbling about?" asked Cloud.

"Nothing," Leon sighed. "Lets just get this over with."

They walked up the steps to the front porch.

Leon was the first one through the door. Inside was one room. A kitchenette in the far left corner, and a big computer in the far right. Two staircases were to the left of the front door. They sat side-by-side. One going upstairs, and the other leading to the basement. Bookshelves lined the walls.

Cid was at the computer, while Riku was sitting in a chair with a book in his hands. Axel was nowhere to be seen. Leon breathed a sigh of relief as he walked over to lean up against the wall. He could handle the two men that were already here. They usually kept to themselves. He didn't think they'd say anything about last night. And maybe Axel had skipped out on todays meeting.

When Cloud came in and shut the door, Cid turned in his computer chair. "'s about time ya got here."

He brought his thumb up to brush the side of his nose. Then he spotted Leon and grinned. "Hi there, _handsome_." Leon glared at the man, but Cid just laughed.

"We're still waitin' on the red-head, so make yer'selves comfortable. Lazy bum..." Cid turned back to his computer and grumbled about time wasters. Leon pushed himself from the wall with a grumble and walked over to the kitchenette, sitting down on one of the stools that was just outside of it, up against the breakfast bar. Cloud sat in one of the chairs that was by Riku.

Riku had finished his book and had gotten up when his cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"No," said Riku after about 3 seconds. Putting the hand that didn't have the phone in it on his hip, he added, "Whatever it is, no."

There was a pause, Riku switched his weight to his other foot then huffed. "And how am I supposed to do that?" Another pause. "OK, but how?"

Cloud was pretending to read the book that Riku had previously been reading, but was really listening to Riku's conversation. The blond was looking over the edge of the book to see the boy's facial expressions. Riku was looking semi-bored with a hint of exasperation. He was 'Uh-huh'ing into the phone. Then his cheeks lit up. "_I am not doing that!_" he hissed angrily into the phone. "Whatever. Just get over here." Riku hung up. He was breathing heavily. "Hey, Cid."

"What?" The man said, not taking his eyes off the computer screen.

"Axel just called. He said he's running late."

"What the hell for?" Cid asked with a huff.

"Well, he wanted me to cover for him, but the truth is he has a hangover and woke up late." Riku said it in a way that suggested he was a bit angry with the red-head.

"That little shit. I'm gonna kill that boy one o' these days." Cid still didn't turn away from his work. But he was tapping the keys a bit harder then necessary.

About twenty minutes later, Yuffie and Tifa showed up. They didn't need to be here, but they just said that they didn't have any thing better to do. Cloud had a feeling they just wanted to hear about 'The Others'.

Ten minutes after that, Axel finally showed up. He walked in with a limp to his left leg. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

Cid turned around to look at the redhead. "The hell happened ta you?" he asked with a grunt.

Axel hobbled over to the kitchenette. "Oh, didn't Riku tell you?" He asked innocently.

"No. I didn't get a chance to tell them. I told them you had been in an accident, though." Riku lied. He brought his cup of coffee up to his mouth. Cloud could see him smile just before he took a drink.

"Yup, he was just about ta tell us when ya came in." said Cid. "Yer leg looks like it hurts. What'd ya do to it?"

"Oh, man!" he said all excitedly. "You guys won't believe this! Some douche bag last night hit me with his car!" The red-head was pouring himself a cup of coffee, so he didn't see the grin Cid gave Riku.

"Really? What'd ya do?" Asked Cid.

"Well, the guy kept going, see. So I tried to get up and run after him. But then I realized that my leg was hurt. So I was just kinda limping along." He flailed his arms to mimic walking with a limp. "Then this other asshole drove by and through his trash on me! So I'm yelling my head off and some guy comes out of the flying pig(2), ya know that bar on 3rd? Yeah, so anyway. He starts yelling at me to shut up. But I'm not gonna take that from some guy. So I hit him!" He punched the air to show how he hit the guy. "And we're getting into it, then his friends come out-

Five minutes later~

"So I'm dragging myself along the ground"- Axel made dramatic hand motions, showing how he crawled along the ground- "through the rain and mud, and I finally reach my apartment." Axel sighed dramatically. "And that's what happened." He nodded, looking rather pleased with himself. He took a drink of his coffee as he walked out of the kitchenette.

"Um, Axel?" said Yuffie.

"Yeah?" he said.

"It didn't rain last night."

".... Oh."

"Yeah," Riku chuckled, "and weren't you limping with your _left_ leg?"

Everybody laughed. Axel was _not_ amused.

After a few minutes of trying to calm everybody down, in which Cid had to bark at Axel and Riku to "Stop throwin' those goddamn books at each other!" they finally were able to start the meeting.

They didn't have a big enough table for them all to sit at, so instead they each drug a chair over so they could face Cid, who was sitting at his computer.

"Alright, sit down and shut up." Cid paused long enough for Yuffie to hop up on the kitchen counter. "I'm sure you all know that the festival is in three days. Now, I know we've already planed out security months ago, but the mayor just told me we're not gonna be in charge of all the security this year."

"What? But we do it every year!" shouted Axel.

"Don't ya think I know that?" said Cid in a gruff tone of voice. He slumped in his chair. " Apparently, we're ta play babysitter for one of the richest men in the world." He scoffed as he stood up. "He's got two sons," he said as he made his way to the tiny kitchen. "Sora and Roxas. Evidently they're in a band called 'The Others', and that's one of the bands that's gonna be playing at the festival."

Tifa and Yuffie glanced at each other, then started to giggle.

"What's so funny?" He asked Yuffie when he got to the kitchen. Opening a drawer with an assortment of tea bags in it, Cid puller a cup off the shelf and dropped one of the tea bags into it. Cid, like Cloud, didn't drink coffee.

Yuffie, trying (and failing) to stifle her giggles said, "Oh nothing, nothing." She waved her hand at him, a sign to continue.

He glared suspiciously at the two girls. "Uh-huh." He picked up the kettle and poured hot water into his cup. With one last suspicious look at Yuffie, who was now trying her best to look innocent, he walked back over to his computer. Sitting down he began hitting keys. "Ah, here we go." He clicked on a folder and four pictures opened up on the screen. The first one was of a spiky haired brunette with big, sky blue eyes. He was wearing a dark green polo t-shirt with horizontal white stripes. In the top left corner of the picture was 'Sora' in big black letters. The boy had a huge grin on his face that seemed to make those big eyes of his twinkle. The second was of a blond with spiky hair, although his spikes seemed to have a bit more thought put into them then Sora's. This one read 'Roxas'. He had the same eyes as his brother, only without the twinkle. It might have had something to do with the fact that he wasn't smiling as brightly as his twin. He was wearing a dark blue shirt with black squares at the bottom, making a checkered pattern that faded as it went to the top. The third was of the both of them, each with an arm slung casually across the others shoulder. They were wearing white button-up dress shirts. The brunette had on a loosely draped blue tie while the blond had a neatly done up black one with red stars on it. They had identical smirks playing across their faces, as if laughing at an inside joke that only the two of them shared. The fourth picture was of them with their father. The man had a stern look on his face. He had a short beard and mustache, the same shade of blond as his long hair. He was wearing a black suit with a periwinkle tie. The two boys had suits to match their father's. But instead of periwinkle ties, they both had light blue ones, a perfect shade to bring out their eyes. They were standing side-by-side in front of their father, Sora on the left, Roxas on the right. Sora had that same grin on his face from the first picture, his father's hand was on his left shoulder. Roxas had a smile too, only his didn't look quite so genuine. His shoulder void of his father's other hand.

"Wait," said Riku, a hint of disbelief in his voice. "You mean to tell me that Ansem, _the _Ansem, _Ansem the wise_, has two little brats? I didn't even know he was married."

"They're not so little, ya know," Tifa said with a smirk. "They're 17. almost 18. Not even two years younger than you."

Riku's jaw dropped. "Bu- but... they look, like, 10! _Maaaybe _14. Are you sure?" he asked with suspicion. He looked at the computer screen, squinting his eyes and tilting his head. "No...." he said slowly, looking back at the girl. "No, you're lying."

"She's not lyin'," said Cid. He was getting annoyed. They had gotten off topic. "They're 17. Their eighteenth birthday's the last day of the festival."

Riku's eyes were huge. He just couldn't get his head around it. They looked so young. How was this possible? This had to be a joke. Surely Tifa was pulling his leg? But why would Cid go along with it? There was just no way they could look that_ young_, be 17, _and _ be related to Ansem The Wise. He looked so... old. "But...." he said in a confused voice, "why do they look so... small?"

"Runs in the family," said Cid. Then, seeing the way Riku frowned with even more confusion as he looked back at the computer, he added, "On their mother's side."

"Why isn't there a picture of their mother?" asked Cloud. He was sitting in a foldout metal chair, his body slouched forward so he could rest his elbows on his thighs. His hands lazily linked under his chin.

"It wasn't relevant to the mission," said Cid tersely. They needed to get back to the meeting. They had already started later than he'd planed and he had other things to do today.

"But there's a picture of their dad," Cloud protested. "He doesn't have anything to do with the mission either."

"Yeah," said Riku, "but _he's_ like, one of the richest guys in the world. And they're his kids, so yeah, he kinda does have to do with the mission."

"Well _she'_s their mother," said Cloud hotly. There had always been something about the silver haired boy that always got on his nerves. Maybe it was how much he resembled.... "And she's married to the guy, so wouldn't that make her one of the richest _women_ in the world? _And _relevant to the mission?"

"Who cares? She's just some lady. Right, Ax?" Riku looked over at his friend for confirmation but didn't receive so much as a glance in his direction. The redhead was still looking at the pictures on the computer screen. He had a look on his face that Riku couldn't place. Shaking his head he looked back at Cloud. "Anyway, Cid already said she didn't have anything to do with the mission. She probably didn't want to come see her kids playing 'rock star'." He made little quotation marks with his finger as he said the last part.

Cloud glared at Riku. "What kind of mother wouldn't want to see her sons performance?"

"You guys," said Tifa in a small voice. They both looked at her, annoyed. "She's dead." The looks of annoyance faded from their faces. "She died giving birth to them." An uncomfortable silence filled the air. No one spoke for a few minutes. Then Leon, who was sitting on a stool next to Cloud, suggested they get back to the meeting.

The rest of the meeting lasted a littler over an hour. The two other members of the band were mentioned, two other boys by the names of Tidus and Demyx, but the committee wasn't in charge of their security so they didn't talk about them much. They, along with the other bands that would be playing at the festival, would be kept safe by the regular security personnel of Hollow Bastion.

Schedules were discussed, when the twin boys would be arriving, who would watch them when, and in which parts of the city they were allowed to go. Sleeping arrangements were also discussed, seeing as at least two people would have to be with them at all times. "They'll be staying at the Highwind,"said Cid with a smirk. Cid was the owner of the Highwind hotel. "Room 13. It's a joined-up room with a door dividing it. So whoever's watchin' 'em'll sleep in one side, and the boys will sleep in the other. Now, any last questions?"

Axel raised his hand, lifting his head and not looking at anyone but Cid. The redhead had taken to staring at the floor the past 20 minutes, ever since Cid had taken the pictures off the computer screen. Something that Riku had not missed. The ocean eyed boy had been eying his friend once he had realized that the older boy had not taken his eyes off the glowing computer for over half an hour.

Cid crossed his arms and nodded at Axel to speak. Axel put his hand down but didn't stop the eye contact. His face was carefully blank. "I would like to be excused from this mission."

Everyone was staring at Axel. Cloud and Leon shared a glance, knowing something wasn't right. Axel had never turned down a mission before. Sure, he slacked on meetings a lot, but he was always ready to get his hands dirty. Cid would sometimes have to turn him down for missions, for the redhead would often try to sign up for over 6 at a time.

Cid frowned suspiciously. "Why?"

A muscle in Axel's jaw flexed, but the rest of his face remained blank. "I'm tired," he said. Riku was looking at him, trying to catch his eye. Realizing that that wasn't working he looked at his friend's hands. They were clenching tightly on his knees. So tightly that Riku could see the knuckles turning white. "I thought I might take some time off."

Cid sighed. He still had his arms crossed but his frown went away. "Eh. I'm sorry, Axel. I know ya're tired, heck, we all are, but I can't afford te let ya go. After this one, we'll all take a break. But fer now,"- he sighed again-"I need ye on this one, red."

Axel didn't say anything more. He just went back to staring at the ground.

Cid uncrossed his arms and stood up. "Alright everyone, I'll see you all tomorrow at 9 am. On top of the hotel. Meeting adjourned."

Tifa was the first out of her chair. She hopped over to Yuffie and the two girls started whispering and giggling at once. Axel was up and almost at the door before Riku had a chance to get out of his seat. The silver haired boy got up quickly and ran after his friend, hoping to get some answers. Leon went over to talk to Cid about the fire that had happened this morning and the damage to their stove. Cloud told Leon that he'd be waiting outside for him.

Cloud stood outside, leaning up against the side of the house with his arms folded. No one noticed him as they walked passed, laughing and shouting amongst themselves. Many people the blond didn't recognize were going by. He figured they were here for the festival. He could spot a few individuals he remembered from last years festival. Mrs. What's-her-face and her two daughters, Mr. And Mrs. Boring -old-couple, crazy cat lady from twilight town, tall skinny goth kid, who, surprisingly, was one of the nicest guys Cloud ever met. And last, but not least, gambling British guy. Every year this man would try and get Cloud to play a round of strip poker with him. The blond shuddered at the memory. He was glad that no one could see him amongst the shadows of the small house. That guy really creeped him out. Of course he could always beat the crap outta the man, but then he'd have to tell Leon about him. And admit to having kept it a secret.

Cloud looked up when the doors to the small house opened, Leon stepping through them. He spotted the blond leaning against the wall and walked over to him. "Ready to go?" he asked. A soft expression played across his face as he lifted a hand to softly stroke his fingers on the other man's cheek.

Cloud blushed, nodding slightly, a bit distracted by the feel of his boyfriend's fingers slowly cupping his face, the other hand resting on the blond's hip, thumb moving in a small secular motion. They hardly ever expressed any form of PDA, and while he knew they were in the shadows and therefor unlikely to attract attention from the many people passing by, he couldn't help feeling exposed. The brunette leaned in, lightly brushing their lips against one another's. Then he leaned back just enough so he could look into the other's eyes, but still close enough so their noses touched. "I love you." he whispered softly.

Cloud's blush deepened, his heart beating fast. "I love you, too," he said in an even smaller whisper than Leon's.

The brunette smiled warmly at his lover, leaning in to kiss him. He could feel the blond tense up as he did so. He knew the fair haired man didn't like showing affection in front of people, but they were in the shadows and unlikely to be seen. He moved his tongue along the seem of the other's lips, silently requesting entrance. It only took a moment for the blond to concede, opening his mouth and flicking his own appendage against Leon's.

Leon pressed his body even closer to the one he loved, wrapping his arm around the other's waist. He broke the kiss, only to start trailing feather light touches along Cloud's jaw, all the way down to his shoulder. He could hear Cloud panting silently, chest heaving up and down. Leon ran his tongue over a particular spot on the blond's neck, loving the small noises it caused the man to make.

Cloud was about to say that they should stop before someone saw them, when Leon bit down on his extremely sensitive neck. "Aaaah!" Cloud gasped, quickly forgetting what he was about to say. He moaned when Leon started sucking on that same spot, making his eye's roll back in his head.

Leon removed himself from his lover's neck, standing a littler straighter so he could lock eyes with the man before him. "You know what I wanna do to you right now?" he asked in a husky voice.

Cloud was breathing hard, he could feel a heavy heat between his legs. "What?" he asked in a breathy tone.

Leon smirked. "I want to lift you up, push you against this wall and fuck you till you pass out." He squeezed the blond's rear as if to prove his point.

Cloud was shaking. Not out of fear, but out of want. He wanted Leon so badly at that moment. He wasn't going to lie, the idea of doing such a thing outside, in front of everyone, excited him. He even got a thrill from hearing those words spoken out in the open like this. But to do something like that outside of the bedroom, of the house, scared him, no matter how exciting it may sound. He could see the lust in Leon's eyes. Oh, how he hated saying no to the man. But he just couldn't do it. Not here, not now. He averted his gaze. "Leon... " to his surprise, he heard Leon laugh.

"Aw, babe," said Leon, trying not to laugh in the blond's face. Taking both of Cloud's hands in his, he said, "I know, I'm sorry. I guess I got a little carried away, huh?" Smiling at the cute way the younger man's bottom lip jutted out ever so slightly, he dropped Cloud's right hand, lasing the fingers of his own through the ones of the blond's left. "C'mon," he said, leading them out into the sunny streets. "We better get home. I have something to tell you when we get there."

Cloud allowed himself to be led by the hand through the crowd of people for a few minutes before letting go of Leon's hand. He knew no one in the city cared that they were a couple, but he couldn't help feeling vulnerable when he let his emotions show like that. Leon didn't seem to mind though. He just smiled at the blond, chuckling a bit while he put his hands in his pocket.

They walked the streets in silence till they reached the square. It was packed with people, so they were forced to slow down to almost a complete stop. "Well?" said Cloud in an expectant voice.

"Well, what?" asked Leon, distracted by two little kids running by with wooden swords, whacking each other and saying "Ha! Aha!" each time one of them landed a hit.

"You said you had something to tell me...?" Cloud had been trying to figure it out ever since they started walking, glancing over at the brunette every couple minutes to examine the man's facial expression. Trying to guess if it was good news or bad news.

"Ah," Leon said with a smirk. "Got you curious, did I?"

"A little," replied Cloud. "So c'mon, what is it?"

Leon laughed. "Uh-uh. You're gonna have to wait till we get home." He loved to play this game with Cloud. He loved how frustrated the younger man would get.

"Oh come on," the blond said. "Just tell me." He knew what Leon was trying to do. He was trying to get him to play "The guessing game" with him. Cloud hated that game. He didn't like not knowing and he hated getting frustrated. And Leon knew how to frustrate him.

"Nope."

_A one word answer?! Are you fricking kidding me?! _Even though Cloud didn't want to play, he couldn't just not play! He had to know! One thing he already knew was that Leon wasn't just gonna come right out and say it. He'd have to guess. Which means he needed some clues. "Is it good or bad?"

"Mmmm," Leon tilted his head in mock thoughtfulness, "good news." He said, then shrugged "At least I think so, anyway."

Good news. What did Leon find out while talking to Cid that would be classified as good news? Maybe the repairs to the kitchen aren't as bad as they had originally thought? No. That wasn't big enough a deal to get Leon playing the guessing game. He usually only played with information he knew the blond would be excited about. But what else would he have talked to Cid about? "Give me another clue."

Leon chuckled, he was having way too much fun with this. Maybe he should just tell him. Eh, just a bit longer. "Merlin stopped by when I was talking to Cid." He had to fight back the laughter that bubbled up as he watched the different expressions play across Cloud's face. He liked watching those blond eyebrows move as each idea popped in and out of Cloud's head. He could see the frustration mounting. As they moved slowly through the crowd, Leon came closer and closer to telling the blond. He was just about to tell him when someone shouted, "Squall!"

Cloud heard the yell but didn't pay it much mind until he saw Leon start to make his way through the crowd of people over to the person who had shouted. _Who's Squall? _Cloud thought.Cloud made his way over to the two men. When he finally got through all the people and over to the other side of the street, the two men were immersed a bear hug. He stood a few feet away, close enough to see and hear everything, but not so close as to interrupt whatever was going on. Still hugging, Leon asked what the other blond was doing in hollow bastion.

"I'm here for the festival, whaddya think? Dude, how come you never told me there were so many babes in HB?" He whistled at a passing girl. Cloud could see that the man was what people referred to as a 'bro.' You know, those obnoxious douche bag guys often seen at college parties. The man had short blond hair covered by a black beanie with the "Ore" kanji on it, and vibrant blue eyes. He was dressed in black pants, fitted so they hung low on his hips without falling off. A plain, dark blue shirt and a long white jacket completed the ensemble. Cloud hardly noticed the man's outfit however, because when he turned around Cloud saw his face. Or more importantly, his scar that ran from the middle of the man's forehead to the bottom of his left eye. Just like Leon's. Only Leon's was the mirror opposite, leading to his right eye instead of his left.

Leon laughed at the man's comment, slapping him on the shoulder. "Oh, hey," he said when he noticed Cloud standing beside them. "Seifer, this is my friend, Cloud." He gestured at the blond. "Cloud, this is Seifer, one of my best friends growing up."

_Friend?_ "Nice to meet you." Cloud extended his hand, his face carefully arranged to look blank yet friendly. Inside, however, he was fuming. _Friend? FRIEND!? What the hell!?_

"Hey, Blondie. S'up?" Seifer shook Cloud's hand. Cloud snorted inwardly. '_S'up'? Who the hell says that? And what does he mean by 'Blondie'?? He's blond, too! _

"Not much," Cloud said, then he started to say that he and Leon should go, but he was interrupted by Seifer.

"Oh, dude! Guess who I'm with?"

_Dick_

"Who?"

"You know that one chick, Yuna? She lived next to you. Kinda awkward in the face? " Leon nodded to show he remembered her. "Well, turns out she can sing! And she's gonna be singing for the festival! She really grew into that nose, too."

Leon laughed at the last part. "That's good. That nose was hideous, man."

Seifer laughed boisterously. "Dude, I know!"

"So how are Rai and Fuu? They got married a few years ago, right?" Leon asked.

"They're good. They wanted to come but Fuu's not aloud to travel right now."

"Oh, why?"

"You don't know? She's pregnant, dude."

"What? Are you serious?!"

"As a gas attack."

"Dude, i... it's heart attack. Not gas attack. What the fuck is a gas attack?" Leon laughed.

"I don't even know, man." Seifer chuckled.

"Anyway, how far along is she?"

"Dunno," Seifer shrugged.

_They forgot about me... _Cloud was getting annoyed now. He was standing, cross-armed, a few feet away from Seifer and Leon, and not looking all too happy. Why was Leon acting this way? As if he were like some... some... well, someone like that _Seifer_ guy. Saying "dude" all the time. _Annoys the fuck outta me_. _And why did he introduce me as his friend?_ We're_ way more than friends!_

"Hey, you wanna go get a drink? It's on me." Leon said.

"That'd be great!" The two men started talking about where they should go, when Seifer's phone started ringing.

Seifer reached into his pocket and took out his cell. He flipped it open then held it up to his ear, "Hello? Hey man. Yeah, I'm here with Squall. Uh-huh, really. Yeah, yeah. Well that's because you'd probably lose it. Okay, yeah. Sure. Be there soon. Bye." He flipped it closed and put it back in his pocket. "Hey Squall, I gotta go pick up Hayner. So can I take a rain check on that drink?"

"Yeah, sur-- wait, Hayner? He's here?"

"Yeah, he's out hangin' with his friends and can't get into the hotel, 'cause I got the only key," he grinned, patting his pocket where he put his phone as well. It jingled with the sound of keys. "You wanna come? You guys haven't seen each other in, like, forever."

"Yeah, man, totally! I remember when he was like two and he stole your Mickey Mouse action figure and stuck it in his diaper," Leon laughed.

Seifer chortled, then paused. "Wait... that was _your_ Mickey Mouse action figure. I never had one."

Leon paused, thinking back. "Oh yeah! I remember. 'Cause you had Minnie." He burst into laughter again.

"Only because they were all out of Mickey."

"Well... I remember you wanting to play 'doctor' with Minnie, like _alllll_ the time." Leon grinned, raising an eyebrow.

" What-ev-ah. It only goes to show I was a playah even back then." This he said with smug satisfaction, crossing his arms in imitation of a gangster. Cloud thought it made the other blond look even more like an ass.

Leon, still laughing slightly, said, "Whatever, man. C'mon, let's go. You comin'?" This last part he directed at Cloud, glancing over his shoulder so he could see him.

_Well, at least he remembered I was here. _"Actually, I should be heading back to the house. We have repairs that need seeing to."

"Wait... So you guys, like, live together?" Seifer said this with a raised eyebrow at Leon.

"Uh, yeah." Leon said as he scratched the tip of his nose. Cloud grinned inwardly. _The old scratchin of the nose. _Leon only ever scratched his nose when he was nervous. "We're... roommates."

"Oh," Seifer gave a bark of laughter. "Man, living without a roomie is fuckin' hell, dude! Ever since Rai moved out, I've had a shit time finding a steady roommate."

_Damnfuckingfuckerfuck!_

Leon laughed. Again. Cloud was fed up. "Well I'll see you at home, _roomie." _With that, Cloud turned and walked away.

"Damn, what crawled up his ass and died?"

"Ah, nothing, he's jus-"

"Whatever, man," Seifer interrupted. "C'mon. Let's go rescue chicken-wuss."

"Yeah, alright." Leon said this in his I'm-worried-but-I'm-trying-to-convince-myself-that-I'm-not tone of voice. And of course, the only one who would be able to identify it as such, was Cloud. And he wasn't there to hear it.

**A/N soooo.... who do you want to kill more, me or Leon? Me? Damn. What about Seifer? Still me? Double damn. =[**

**It's been F-ing months! I know I don't have to tell you guys that. =[ You've probably been plotting my death, huh? Yeaaah... sorry?**

**Anywaaaay~ My beta helped a lot with that last bit. =] Thank you lovely beta lady!!!!!!! 3**


	4. Getting ready

He couldn't believe it. Why was this always happening?

Cloud opened the the front door to his and Leon's house, slamming it shut once he stepped through.

_I thought we were okay again. _He didn't understand. He had apologized. They had made up. They just had a public makeout session for crying out loud! "_Friend,"_ he grumbled under his breath as he walked into their bedroom. Seeing the pile of debris that once was their nightstand, he sighed angrily. _This is so stupid. _He bent down to start picking up the broken pieces of wood._ He should be here with me. Not off with manwhoe McDouche, getting drunk off his ass. Even though he has work tomorrow. Dumbass. Well guess who's not gonna be helping him when he gets back?_

Once he had his arms full of broken bits of the table, he made his way to the back door. Cloud shifted the wood so that he could get his right hand free and turn the doorknob. He got outside and dumped the wood into the corner of the yard angrily. As he started to back up, he tripped. Cloud put his hands out behind him, hoping to catch himself somehow, but his hand hit something. Something sharp. "Ow!" Cloud exclaimed. He sat up and examined his right hand. It was already bleeding. There was a puncture wound in the middle of his palm. "Goddamnit!" He looked to see what he hit, and saw a nail sticking out of a piece of broken wood from the table. It must have fallen there when he dumped the heap. "That's just great." He stood up. "Fan-fucking-tastic." He kicked the piece of wood, sending it flying over the fence.

Walking back inside he went straight to the kitchen sink, turned on the tap and let the water run over his wound. Cloud held his hand under the faucet for a couple minutes, just liking the feel of it. Then turned it off and dried his hand. He went into the bathroom and opened the cupboard under the sink. Getting out the box where they kept their first aid supplies, taking care not to get blood on it, he sat on the edge of the tub. The blond opened the box and took out a roll of gauze, then unraveled it and started wrapping it around his hand. _Stupid wood. _He thought angrily. He tied it off and put the first aid kit back under the sink. He stood up and walked out of the bathroom into the hall. Walking back into the bedroom and over to where the nightstand used to be, Cloud heard a crunch under his foot. He backed up and looked down. Underneath his foot was a picture frame. Kneeling down to pick it up, he saw that the photo was of him and Leon at the beach last year. In the photo, the ocean was behind them, Cloud was laughing and Leon was smiling and kissing Cloud on the cheek. Leon had wanted to give Cloud a break from work for a few days and just be together. Cloud smiled to himself, absentmindedly running a finger over the crack in the glass.

-

Cloud was at the grocery store. After the incident with the stove- you know, the one with the fire? Yeah- he decided to _buy _dinner rather then make it. Walking down the deli aisle, Cloud looked through the glass windows to the display of hot food. Everything looked so... _ew._

"Hey, Cloud," said a cheerful voice from behind him.

Cloud turned. "Oh, hey, Yuffie." The young woman smiled at him. Instead of her usual shorts and vest, she was wearing a well-fitted dark blue sundress. "You look nice. What's the occasion?"

Yuffie frowned. "Aerith's dinner party. She wanted me to dress _nicely. _I think she's trying to set me up with another one of her friends." She folded her arms and pouted. "Are you and Leon coming?"

"No. Leon's... busy tonight."

"Heeeeeey!" said the girl, an evil glint in her eye. "Why don't you come as my date??"

Cloud sighed. "Yuffie, Aerith knows I'm gay. _And _that Leon and I are together."

"Yes," Yuffie said, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet now. "But her boring ass friend doesn't."

Cloud thought about it. On one hand, he could refuse, spend the night alone at the house, waiting for Leon to show up... on the other hand, he could go to the party, not have to cook or buy something for dinner... Hmmmm.

"Fine."

"YAY!" Yuffie jumped in the air. "Oh Cloudy you wont regret this!"

-

"Yuffie, no."

"Ah, c'moooooon!"

"Never." Cloud was sitting on his and Leon's bed, arms crossed and glaring at the door. Yuffie was standing in front of him with an outfit in her hands and a pout on her face.

"But, Cloud--!"

"Yuffie, I'm not wearing that." _It's hideous, _he thought with a shudder.He was absolutely _not _wearing that. He didn't even know how it got in the closet. The outfit in question was a pair of tight leather pants with sparkles, and a shirt with such a small amount of fabric Cloud wasn't even sure if it qualified as one. _It's a dinner party, for crying out loud!_

"But you'd look so sexy in it!" the young girl wailed. Cloud didn't care if he looked drop dead gorgeous in it, there was no way he was wearing that to the party.

"Yuffie," he said in his best no-nonsense tone of voice. "This is a dinner party. Aerith is already going to be upset that we're going as each others dates. She would refuse to let me in the house if I came dressed like that." It was true, he knew Aerith wasn't going to be pleased that Yuffie got out of yet another "date." Ever since last year Aerith has taken it upon herself to be Hollow Bastion's matchmaker, Yuffie being her main target. The self proclaimed ninja had been on so many dates in the past year that most everyone had lost count. Aerith will no doubt be peeved that Yuffie's managed to get out of another blind date. But if Cloud showed up dressed like that...

"Will you at least wear the pants?"

He glared at her.

"Grr! Fine! But don't blame me if no one hits on you at the party."

"I have a boyfriend, ya know." he said grumpily.

* * *

Srbzdfcjnmge I don't want to look at it anymore!!!!! D8 So this is all you get for now.

Sorry it's so.... crappy =[ I like some parts... But others are kinda poop :,

I'd like to know what you all thought of it, though. And if you have any ideas that you'd like too share, I'd love to hear em! =]

3 3 3


	5. Insert Awesome Title Here

FFFFF I'M SORRY! ;A;

Ok so keep in mind that Leon has been drinking. AAAAAAND YEAH! =D

Cloud and Yuffie had made it to the party only a half hour late. Yuffie wasn't pleased by this. "Half an hour isn't enough time to count as fashionably late," the young girl had said. "I should have taken longer styling your hair." Getting into the house was a bit more difficult. Aerith had opened the door with a smile but once she saw that they had come together, that smile turned into a glare. She wouldn't let them in the house without answering her questions. She started by asking where Leon was. Followed by why they were here together and why they were late. Question after question was asked, and only when Aerith couldn't think of any more, did she let them inside. Throughout the party she would shoot Cloud a glare, obviously blaming him for Yuffie getting out of another one of her blind dates.

Cloud only stayed till 8:30, not wanting to upset Aerith by staying too long. Yuffie was, surprisingly, fine with him leaving. She was in the middle of a conversation with one of the other guests. Cloud found it amusing that the reason Yuffie had wanted him to come to the party with her was so she wouldn't have to talk to Aerith's "boring ass friends." And now she was in a conversation with one of them.

He took his time getting home, walking on side streets to avoid large groups of tourists and their questions of "Will you take our picture?" even at this late hour, they'd meander about the main parts of the city, taking in as much of the historical atmosphere as they could. Not that he hated tourists, mind you. He knew that tourism was a big part of Hollow Bastion's financial income. He just wasn't in the mood to deal with people at the moment. Still being upset with Leon and yet not being able to talk to him about it until tomorrow left Cloud feeling agitated. And knowing that Leon was out drinking with _Seifer _didn't help things.

When he got home he was fully prepared to go straight to bed. He didn't want to wait up for Leon, knowing that if they were to try and talk about what had happened today, they'd only end up in an argument. His plans for sleep were foiled the moment he walked through the front door.

"Where have you been?" Leon was sitting on the couch, glaring at Cloud with so much hate the blond was momentarily stunned into silence.

Cloud recovered quickly, throwing his own glare at Leon. "You're home early," he said with a sneer. "Date not go so well?"

"Date? What are you- Cloud, where were you? I was worried. I came home and you weren't here and I went into the bathroom and saw-" he cut himself of short, closing his eyes and took a deep breath. Opening his eyes again he looked at Cloud, all traces of the hate filled glare completely gone. "Cloud, I know what you did. It's okay, we can talk about it."

"What _I _did?" Cloud asked incredulously. Was Leon trying to turn this around on him?

Leon got off the couch and took a few steps toward Cloud. "I saw the blood on the bathroom floor. I know you hurt yourself again.. What I don't know is why. And if you'll just talk to me we-"

"Wait" Cloud said, holding up his hands to stop the other man from taking anymore steps toward him. Leon thought he'd cut himself? _'He thought I hurt myself like after Sephiroth died... Well that's ridiculous. No matter how upset I am with Leon, I wouldn't do that again. Hang on... Didn't he also say he didn't know why I was upset? Which means he didn't catch on at all to the fact that I was mad at him. That little...' _Cloud inhaled deeply. "First of all, I didn't intentionally hurt myself. It happened when I was moving the broken table out of _our_ room. Which, by the way, you should have been here to help me with. Second of all, even if I did hurt myself intentionally, which I didn't, why would you care? It's not like I'm your _boyfriend _or anything."

Leon looked shocked at being wrong about the blood in the bathroom. Then the end of Cloud's sentence hit him. "What do you mean you're not my boyfriend?"

"Oh, didn't you hear?" Cloud said sarcastically, taking off his jacket and setting it on a chair. "Apparently we're just friends. I mean, that's what you said to Seifer. And you wouldn't lie to _Seifer. _You two are best buds after all." _I can smell the whiskey on his breath... I wonder how much he's had to drink?_

Leon sighed, running a hand through his hair. He looked away from Cloud, not knowing what to say.

Leon's lack of response only fueled Cloud's anger. "Okay," he said, taking a step closer to the dark haired man. "If you don't want to talk about that, let's talk about the fact that he has the same scar as you. Or how about the fact that you two seem to be _oh so close_, and yet I've never even heard his name before? And speaking of names, didn't he call you Squall? But you know what, my personal favorite is that you introduced me as your friend, so why don't we start with that?"

"Look, Cloud," Leon said, looking a little dizzy and sitting back down on the couch. "There are some things in my past that I'm just not comfortable talking about."

"So it's fair that you know practically every detail of my past, but you won't just tell me about one guy from yours? No. That's not happening, Leon."

"God," Leon exclaimed, "why are you so determined to fight about this?"

"I'm not trying to fight about this. I just want you to talk to me about it. Hell, about anything. We never talk anymore, Leon."

"That's not true. We talk all the time."

"Yeah, about work. But that's not the same."

"We talk about other things, too." Leon said dismissively, starting to walk to the kitchen.

"You're doing it right now!"

"Doing what?" Leon sighed, still walking.

"You're not talking to me." Cloud said, following Leon. "You're just walking away. Would you fucking LOOK at me!"

"I'm just getting water, calm down!" Leon shouted, opening the cupboard and getting a drinking glass out.

"No. Not until you look at me!"

Leon still didn't turn. Filling his glass with water from the tap he slowly drank it. When he was finished he sighed once more. "Cloud," he said, still not looking. "We have work in the morning. Let's just... go to bed."

"Look. At. Me." Cloud said through clenched teeth. He didn't understand how this happened. All he had wanted when he got home was to go to bed. Now he he was standing in the half burnt kitchen, trying to get Leon to look at him. But Leon just stood there. Not looking. Why wouldn't he just turn around? There was silence for what seemed like an eternity. "Leon... Please..." He was almost scared to see Leon's face. To see his greatest fears in that face he loved so much. The fear that, no matter what, Leon wouldn't feel comfortable telling him about his past. The fear that he was losing Leon. He had to do something. He just didn't know what.

He was feeling sick now. He wanted to cry but didn't want to be the first to break. Just when he thought that maybe it would be best for him to just walk away and go to bed. To just leave it for another time, Leon spoke.

"Cloud, I-" Leon's voice was chocked. Almost like he'd been crying, Cloud thought. Leon cleared his throat. "Cloud I want to tell you... I just... I don't think I can."

Now he really wanted to cry. "Leon, you can tell me."

Leon shook his head. "No. No, Cloud, if you knew... you'd.. you'd hate me." Leon was sobbing now. His head bent over the sink.

"No, Leon." Cloud said, walking over and touching his arm. "I won't hate you. I couldn't."

"You would." Leon said, trying to shake off Cloud's hand. He turned away from the blonde, hiding his face.

Now Cloud was crying, too. _What could be so bad that Leon would think I'd hate him? _He had a thought. But no.. He didn't even want to think it. But he had to know. "Leon... did you... you and Seifer... did you... cheat?"

Leon turned around so fast he scared the other man. "NO." He grabbed Cloud by the shoulders. "Oh, Cloud, no. I would never do that to you."

Cloud gave a shaky laugh. "Okay. Then.. then whatever it is, it's not that bad, right?"

Tears once again started falling from Leon's eyes. He pulled away, shaking his head. "I don't think I should stay here tonight."

"What? No, jus-"

"It'll be for the best, Cloud, I promise." Leon started to head for the door, but Cloud grabbed his arm.

"No, Leon. You can't go. We don't have to talk about it anymore, okay? Just please don't leave."

Leon manged to get Cloud's hand off. "I can't be here right now, Cloud. I need some air." But Cloud wouldn't give up. He tried to grab the arm again, pleading with him at the same time. "Cloud, let go. I can't breath while I'm here. I can't think."

"Please, Leon, please don't go!"

But Leon left.

Cloud sat sobbing on the floor.


	6. After the Meeting

After the meeting was over Axel got out of the small house as fast as he could. He needed to think, to figure out what to do. And the headache from the hangover wasn't helping. He only got as far as the square before he was stopped by Riku's hand on his arm.

"Dude," said Riku, turning Axel around. "What is up with you today?"

"Nothing," replied Axel in an irritated tone. He tried to extract his arm and keep walking but Riku wouldn't let go.

"Bullshit. You've never tried to give up a mission before." Riku let go of Axel's arm. "C'mon, we've been friends for over 8 years. I know you better than anyone in the whole city. I can tell something's up." Axel folded his arms and looked away, the muscles in his jaw flexing. "Listen, I'm not gonna leave you alone till you tell me so you might as well just spit it out." Axel still didn't say anything. Just stood there not looking at Riku. "Aaaaaaxelllll! Tell meeeeee!" he whined, pawing at Axel's folded arms.

"Gaaaaawd, you're annoying!" he batted Riku's hands away. "Fine, shut up, I''ll tell you." He looked around. There were a lot of people filling the square. He spotted an alleyway across the crowd of people. "C'mon." He said grumpily. He made his way through the sea of people and to the other side of the square where the alley was, Riku following closely.

"Okay," said Axel once they were in the privacy of the alleyway. "Okay, okay, okay." He ran a hand over his face and through his hair, trying to think. He took a breath to calm himself. "Okay. Do you remember when I went to Oblivia last year?"

"Yeah," said Riku, a little confused as to what that had to do with Axel's behavior today but pleased that he had finally got Axel talking.

"And do you remember me telling you that I had met someone while I was there?"

"Kinda." he said, crossing his arms. "You didn't give me any details. All you said was things hadn't worked out."

"Right, well..." He ran his fingers through his hair again, tugging on a piece then ruffling the lot of it. "Okay, so while I was over there I met this guy, right? And things were going really well. We were hanging out almost everyday, just having fun, ya know?" He scratched the back if his neck while he looked up at the sky. "That went on for a few months, and like I said, things were going good... Till I asked him out."

"Didn't take it so good, huh?" Riku knew how that was. Well, not the being rejected by a guy part. He'd never even asked a guy out. Women on the other hand... Yes, he'd been rejected by plenty of women...

"No, he was fine with it. Even said yes." He laughed. Looking down he smiled to himself. "We went to this drive-in movie theater they had set up by the river that ran through the city. 'Harold and Maude' was playing. He said it was his favorite movie." His smile grew. "We almost got to second base." He chuckled and scratched the side of his face. Then the smile faded. "I walked him back to the house his family was renting. We made plans to see each other the next day... He didn't show up. I called but his phone had been disconnected... I even went to his house.." He crossed his arms and looked at Riku. "I never saw him again... Until today, that is."

"What, you mean you saw him in town?" Asked Riku.

Axel shook his head. "Not exactly."

"Well, what, than?" Snapped Riku. He had gotten so wrapped up in the story that he forgot that Axel may be having a hard time talking about this. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"I saw him on Cid's computer."

Riku stared for a few moments. "So, what, you dated one of The Others?" He laughed at his own joke, smirking at Axel. But his smirk died down when Axel remained quiet. "You've got to be shitting me."

Axel humphed. "Yes, Riku, I'm shitting you. I am in your pants right now, shitting you out." he said sarcastically.

Riku pulled a face. "Okay, fine. It's just- Really?"

"Yes, really." He flung his hands in the air "What, you think I can't get a boyfriend that's in a band?"

"No, it's not that." Said Riku. "It's just, well, c'mon, Axel- what are the odds of that happening?"

"Of what happening?"Asked Axel defensively.

"Well, let's go over it again," Riku said, holding up his fingers and ticking them off one at a time. "You meet a guy while you're in another city, you go on a date with him, he _disappears, _then he shows up in the town that you live in a year later? _And _he's in a band that you're supposed to look after?"

"So what?" Axel crossed his arms and glared at Riku.

"_So, _it just seems a little far fetched."

"So you think I'm lying, is that it?" Axel took a step toward Riku.

"No, I just- look, maybe you just _thought _that one of The Others looked like the guy from Oblivia?"

"I didn't imagine seeing him, Riku, it was him." He said through clenched teeth. He was annoyed that Riku had wanted an answer _so badly _before, and now he was trying to disprove his story. "Look, you wanted to know what was bothering me and I told you! And now you don't even BELIEVE me? Great fucking friend of eight years you are."

It was obvious Axel was about to lose his temper. Riku decided to try and calm him down before he actually lost it."Alright," Riku sighed. "Okay, I'm sorry." He looked out at the crowd of people walking by the mouth of the alleyway. He saw Cloud and Leon holding hands and smiling as they walked by. There was an uncomfortable silence in the air. "Well... which one of The Others is it?"

Axel had a sour look on his face. Trying to calm himself he closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose, exhaling he opened his eyes. "Roxas."

Riku snorted, "The blonde one?"

Axel unfolded his arms only to clench his fists at his sides. "Why is that so funny?"

"Oh, come on, Axel. You don't even like blondes!"

"You know what?" Axel said angrily. He had had enough. He shoved past Riku and made his way to the exit. "If all you're going to do is laugh and not believe me, then I'm leaving."

"Okay, okay, wait!" Said Riku, grabbing Axel's arm. "Look, I'm sorry. You're right." They were both silent for a few moments. "So... What are you going to do when you see him tomorrow?" Riku still didn't really believe it, but obviously Axel did. And there wasn't anything he could do about it until tomorrow.

Axel sighed. "I don't know, Riku." He ran his fingers through his hair once again. "I just don't fucking know."

**Hey, so this chapter didn't actually take that long to write. Maybe a month. The reason it took so long to post is I was writing another chapter-the one I thought was going to be the 6th- and it was just smacking me in the face the whole time. It just wasn't working. SO I decided to write a chapter in the POV of Axel/Riku. To get some of their story line rolling. **

**And in case you didn't realize it, this chapter is set right after the meeting from the 3rd chapter.**


	7. Creepers, Peters and Drunken Bros

After the fight with Cloud, Leon had gone wandering the streets of Hollow Bastion. He didn't really care where he ended up, he felt like the world's biggest asshole and he figured it didn't really mater if he walked into a wall, let alone the dodgy side of town. Manly he just didn't want to be around people, and since it was past midnight most everyone had already gone home, it was unlikely that he'd bump into anyone he knew or had any need to talk to. It seemed that whilst his mind had been busy brewing up a storm, his feet went to the place that was most familiar, a place the towns' people called The Great Maw. It was his favorite spot in the whole of Hollow Bastion. The very first week of living in Hollow Bastion he had found it. It was quiet and hardly anyone else cared for the long walk that it took to get there.

_'Fuck' _he thought as he sat at the cliff's edge, letting his feet dangle. He was lost. Plain and simple. He had no idea what to do. He knew that Cloud had a right to know the truth, but he also knew that if he told him it would all be over. He felt sick at the thought of what Cloud would do if he found out. The blonde probably wouldn't be able to look at him. He'd end up hating him, and Leon wouldn't blame him. Leon picked up a few tinny rocks and proceeded to drop them one by one into the seemingly bottomless pit of darkness below. '_And he'd leave..._' His stomach seemed to turn over at the thought. '_He'd leave and I'd have no right to stop him.'_

"You seem to be awfully distracted this evening," a voice said from behind him.

Leon was so startled he tried to turn around, jumped up and pull his gun out of its holster simultaneously. As a result he lost his balance and started to fall backwards off the cliff. A hand grabbed him just in time, a hand that belonged to Vincent Valentine, Hallow Bastion's very own vampire. Well, he wasn't _really_ a vampire. But with those piercing red eyes that always seemed to look right through you, right to your soul, and the pale skin that seemed far too white to be healthy. That and the fact that he was rarely ever spotted in the light of day, lead Leon to conger images of blood-sucking creatures of the night. Once he was pulled to his feet he asked, "And what makes you think I'm distracted?"

"You did not notice that I was following you all evening." He said this so simply, as if he were unaware that following people was both creepy and unwelcome in most cultures. "What is troubling you?"

Leon grit his teeth. "Nothing's troubling me."

Vincent stared at Leon for a few seconds, his eyes drilling silently into Leon's. "Why are you lying?"

'_Why do you think I'm lying, you big weirdo.' _thought Leon.

"It's Cloud, isn't it?" He asked, still staring at Leon. "You two had a fight." It was a statement, like he didn't even need to ask.

'_How the hell does he do that?'_

"So, what did you do?" Vincent asked.

"What makes you think it was _me?_" said Leon, offended that the other man would assume that it had been he who had done something wrong. Even though, truth be told, he _had._

"Because Cloud looks lost and depressed. And you look _guilty _and depressed," Vincent replied.

"I thought you said you were following _me _all night. How do you know what Cloud looks like?"

"Whoever said I could not be in two places at once?" was the reply.

Leon stared, started to speak, then cut himself off. '_And Cloud wonders why I think this guy is creepy.' _He was silent for a few moments, then he thought what the hell? Why not? He sat back down and said "You might want to have a set. It's gonna take a while."

Vincent did so, sitting next to Leon on the edge of the cliff. He stared at Leon while Leon stared at the sky.

Taking a deep breath then letting it out, he began. "Today after the meeting Cloud and I ran into an old friend of mine. Cloud had never met him before, never even heard of him... we went to the bar and Cloud went home. I knew I shouldn't have, and I guess it pissed Cloud off 'cause when I got home he wasn't there. I was going to wait for him to get back but then I found blood in the bathroom and I thought that Cloud had hurt himself... You remember, like after Sephiroth?"

"I remember." Vincent said.

"I went out looking for him and couldn't find him. I got back to the house and waited, worrying my head off. Then he shows up and I just-" He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Turns out he didn't cut himself on purpose. He was cleaning up and got hurt. Then he started blaming me for it 'cause I hadn't been there. And he was saying that he wasn't my boyfriend and I thought he was breaking up with me because I went out with Seifer-"

"Seifer?" Vincent inquired.

"Hmm? Oh, he's the friend we ran into," Explained Leon. "Anyway, he had been referring to how I had introduced them. I had said that Cloud was my roommate and-"

"Why did you do that?" interrupted the other man again.

"Well, Seifer has a problem with gays.. And I never came out to my friends back home.. and it would have been awkward for everyone so I just said that we were living together, which isn't a lie if you think about it..." Leon glanced at the man that had been staring at him this whole time. "So yeah, um.." he said awkwardly. He looked away before continuing. "Right, he was mad because I said we were roommates. And that I had never mentioned Seifer before. And he asked why we have the same scar on our faces, but I couldn't tell him about that without him asking more questions..." He looked down into the dark pit below. "I should have just told him everything right then. He's going to find out anyway. With Seifer in town.. He always did have a big mouth..."

"What are you afraid of Cloud finding out?" Vincent asked.

Leon was quiet for a few minutes. He was wondering whether he should tell Vincent. And, once again, he though what the hell?

"When I was younger- 16 or 17- I beat up a gay kid... I didn't know he was gay at the time. He had done something to piss me off, I don't even remember what... Seifer thought I had done it because the guy was gay, I let him think that. Seifer and I hadn't been hanging out as much as we used to and he was all pleased with me, I missed him so I let him think what he wanted. We started hanging out more so I never told him the truth. A few weeks later at school Seifer cornered a gay and tossed him around a bit. I just stood there. I didn't help Seifer but I didn't stop him either. The next time that happened he had me hold the guy's hands behind his back. It only got worse. I started doing it even when Seifer wasn't around.

"The summer before our last year of high school Seifer came to me and told me about this guy that had been hanging around his parent's shop. Rumors were going around about the kid being gay and I guess it really bothered Seifer; he seemed to think people would get the wrong idea or something. He wanted me to hang around that night and help him "take care of it." We followed him from the shop, cornered him in an alley and... well, I'm sure you can guess. We must have gone too far 'cause when we were done the guy wasn't moving. I freaked and made Seifer call in an anonymous tip to 9-1-1. We both went home. The next day it was all over the town. About how a guy was attacked while walking home. I couldn't stand the guilt. I wanted to go to the police and confess, but Seifer wouldn't let me. He told me it would all blow over. 'The guy isn't even from around here' he had said. I kept my mouth shut. I never even saw the guy again.

"A few weeks later Seifer wanted to do it to some other guy, I told him I didn't want to. I didn't want to _ever _do it again. We got into a fight. It got pretty ugly. That's how we both got the scars on our faces. We stopped hanging out for about 5 months. Til our friend Fuu found out what Seifer and I had done. And what Seifer was still doing. Turns out her favorite uncle was gay. She was none to pleased with us and ended up beating the crap out of us. She may be small, but damn could that girl throw a punch. We started hanging out again. It wasn't the same though. After graduation I moved here. Still kept in touch but never told them that I was gay. Not even Fuu."

"So," said Vincent, "you are afraid that if Cloud finds out you were a gay basher he will be unable to forgive you?"

"Partially that... But mostly I think he might have some trouble getting over something else." He bit his lip, unsure if he could bring himself to say it out loud. He had already come this far, though. "You see, I did end up seeing the guy that we put in the hospital again... In Hallow Bastion..."

"Is he still in the city?"

Leon nodded. He was trying to fight back the urge to vomit. This was harder than he had thought. He needed to just say it. To just get it over with. Maybe once he said it, it wouldn't feel like his insides were on fire and trying to escape through his throat? He bent over, his head in his hands. God, he was on the verge of crying in front of another man. He needed to either say it or get the hell out of there, fast. But he couldn't feel his legs at the moment and he doubted they'd hold up. That only left option one. So, in a shaky voice, he said, "It was Cloud."

There was silence. Leon was waiting, he wasn't sure what exactly he was waiting for. Maybe for Vincent to yell at him, to push him over the edge they we sitting on, for the earth to open up and swallow him? Anything that would make it so he didn't have to be the one to speak first.

Finally Vincent spoke. "Did you always know?"

"No." Leon said, his face still hidden in his hands. "I only realized this afternoon. Hanging out with Seifer, talking... We never talked about what happened that night, but something about being around him made me remember... I wasn't sure until I saw Cloud walk through the front door." Leon shook his head. "I don't know what to do. I can't tell him, he'll hate me. But I can't keep this from him forever..."

For the first time that evening Vincent looked away from Leon to turn his gaze to the starry sky. "Perhaps you should go see your friend, Seifer."

Leon looked up at the sky as well. "Why?"

"First to tell him the true nature of yours and Cloud's relationship," he said, once again looking at Leon. "Then tell him of the identity of the young man you two hospitalized."

Leon looked down at his feet dangling above the darkness. "Maybe you're right."

"I am rarely wrong."

Leon had to smirk at that. '_How self assured.' _He got up and brushed himself off. '_At least that makes one of us.'_ "It's late," he pointed out. "I doubt Seifer's still up."

"I would not worry. I'm sure he will be awake."

"How do you kno- Never mind. You _would _know."

Vincent was still sitting at the edge, looking up at the stars. "What does your friend look like?" He asked.

"Erm," Leon said, trying to conjure a picture of Seifer in his mind. "He's blonde with a scar on his face... Kinda has the same build as me, I guess." The other man didn't say anything. Leon decided he should get going if he wanted to catch Seifer before he went to bed. If he wasn't already, that is. "So... um... thanks for... ya know... Listening and... yeah." Vincent still didn't reply so Leon rolled his eyes and turned away. _'Ass. I say thanks and you don't have the decency to at least look over your shoulder? And what's with the questions about what Seifer looks like? No... He wouldn't' _"Hey," he said as he turned back around. "You're not going to stalk him are yo-" Vincent was no longer sitting at the edge of the cliff. In fact, he was no longer there at all. _'Creep. Disappearing on me...' _

Leon had been standing outside the blonde's hotel room for about ten minutes before he got the nerve to actually knock. Seifer opened the door to his hotel room. "Heeeey, Leon! What's up, buddy? Couldn't stand to be away from me, eh? Hahaha c'mon in, bro!" Leon walked in and looked around. Things were quiet for a moment. Then: "Hey, dude, are you... okay?" asked Seifer in a worried voice.

"Um... Actually I was wondering if I could, um, crash here tonight?" Leon laughed nervously.

"Yeah, dude... Everything alright?" Seifer said, motioning for him to sit on the couch.

They both sat down. "Uh... Not really."

Seifer was about to say something until his cell went off in the next room. "Oh hang on a minute." He got up and walked into the next room "Ew! Oh, God! Get a fuckin room!" Leon heard him yell.

"We _had _a room!" He heard someone else yell. '_That sounds like Hayner.' _He thought as he stood up. He walked over to the door Seifer had gone through. Hayner was standing next to Seifer as he and the older blonde yelled at each other.

"Well get a room that I don't have to sleep in, ya fag!" Seifer shouted, grabbing his phone from the night stand. Leon saw a red haired boy sitting on the bed. He looked more uncomfortable than scared. Looking at Leon the boy gave a nervous little wave.

"God, you're such an ass!" Hayner yelled right back. "If you had a problem with Peter, then why did you say he could come with us?"

"I don't have a problem with Peter," Seifer said through clenched teeth. "I have a problem with you two SUCKING FACE ON MY BED!"

"WE WEREN'T ON YOUR BED!" Hayner yelled.

"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK! You two better keep your hands to yourselves or I swear to God, Hayner, I WILL kick your ass." Seifer turned around and grabbed Leon and left the room, closing the door as he went.

Leon and Seifer stood there for a few moments, the blonde breathing heavily. "So..." Leon said. "Hayner's gay?"

"Yeah." said Seifer, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry I didn't tell you about that. He didn't want me to. And considering how we acted back in the day, I don't blame him."

"And you're... OK with it?" Leon asked.

"Yeah." Seifer shrugged. "I mean, I don't wanna walk in on it or anything, but it's not as bigga deal as I used to think it was, ya know?" He laughed. "C'mon, I'll garb us some beer from the fridge and you can tell me what you were about to before my phone went off."

"Uh well..."

"Seeing Hayner with that kid didn't, like, totally gross you out, did it?" Asked Seifer from the kitchen as he opened the fridge. "If it did that's fine, but you won't be able to stay here tonight." He had two bottles in his hand and an apologetic look on his face. "I mean, you're my bro and all, but family first, ya know?"

"Nononono!" He said adamantly. "Actually... it makes what I'm about to say easier."

Seifer handed one of the bottles to Leon and sat down on the couch. "What is it, man?"

Leon sat in the arm chair next to the couch. "Cloud and I aren't just roommates..." he said, taking a drink before continuing. "I'm gay. And so is he. And we're... together."

"Yeah, I figured." Seifer said, taking a long swig from his beer.

"What? How?"

"Oh, c'mon. I may not be the most sensitive of guys, but I'm not a complete moron. It doesn't take a gummi ship scientist to decode the looks chocobo was giving you." Seifer laughed.

"Hahahaha! And- and do you remember when Fuu beat us up?" They had been going down memory lane for the past hour, and drinking for the past hour and a half. "why- why'd she do that, man?" Seifer took a shot off the coffee table and held it in his hand. "That was so.. so... soooo... SoOooo..." He was saying the word over and over again, seeing how many ways he could say it. He drank the contents of the little glass. "What was I sayin'?"

"You were askin' why Fuu beat us up," Leon supplied in a slower and slightly slurred manner, taking a drink from his own glass. They had run out of beer half an hour ago and decided to switch to whiskey.

"YEAH!" Said Seifer excitedly, slapping Leon on the back and making him choke on the drink. "Haha, sorry man." He said, patting Leon on the back. "But yeah, why'd she do that?"

Leon laughed. "You really askin' me that?" He laughed again. "You're stupid."

"Hey!" Said Seifer indignantly. "Why 'm I stupid?" he pouted.

"C'mon," Leon said. "You know why." But Seifer only continued to pout. Leon sighed. "She did it 'cause of what _we _did."

"Wha'd we do?" Seifer asked in a whisper, as if Leon was about to share a secret with him.

Leon leaned forward to pour another shot. He didn't think he was drunk enough to have this conversation yet. "Sei," he said, missing the glass a little as he poured. Or maybe he was _too_ drunk. "She beat us up 'cause of wha' we did to those guys back in school."

Seifer looked confused for a moment, Leon wasn't sure he had even comprehended what he'd said, then it downed on the blonde what Leon was talking about. "Oh," He said. "Yeah... I 'member now." He poured himself another shot.

"Yeah," Leon replied. He should probably get on with it. If he didn't do it now he would never be able to bring it up again. And if he didn't talk to Seifer about it Vincent would probably find out somehow and haunt him for the rest of his life. "Creepy bastard." Leon said aloud.

"Wha'd you just call me?"

"Nothing." Said Leon distractedly. He was filling his shot glass once again. "Listen, Sei, what we used t' do... It wa'n't okay."

"I know, dude." Seifer said quietly.

"God, we were so..."

"Yeah..."

"Do you remember the last kid we... Ya know...?" Leon asked.

Silence. "Yeah. I remember."

"Do you remember what he looked like?" Leon was sitting in the chair looking at the empty shot glass in his hand.

"Yeah." Seifer said. He too was looking at the empty glass in his hand. "It's kinda hard to forget."

"I did." Leon said. "I forgot."

"Yeah, well... I was the one that did most of the beating. You mostly just kept watch." Leon poured another shot and gulped it down before pouring another. "You hardly talked about it. Even back then. What's up?"

"I should have remembered." Said Leon, an edge of bitterness to his voice.

"Dude, it's alright." Seifer said.

"No, it's not alright." Leon stood up and started pacing. "I should have remembered. I shouldn't have forgotten. I shou-"

"Dude," Seifer stood up as well. "Calm down. It's not tha-"

Leon sharply turned to face Seifer. "It was Cloud."

"What was Cloud?" Seifer asked, confused.

"The last kid we attacked. The kid I didn't remember even though I helped hospitalize him. Even though I've been dating him for three FUCKING years."

Seifer opened his mouth to speak but couldn't. Then finally "Are you sure? I thought you forgot what the guy looked like? Maybe it's not him. Maybe-"

"No, it's him." Leon said. He started pacing again. "I remembered on my way home from the bar tonight but I wasn't totally sure til I saw him and fuck it's all over." It was becoming difficult to breath. "When he finds out- that's it. He's never going to speak to me again."

"Bro, you really need to calm down, okay?" Seifer said, taking a step toward Leon.

"I can't fucking calm down, Seifer. It's all my fault. Do you know what happened while he was in the hospital? Do you? _Sephiroth._" He spat on the floor. "That guy was the fucking anti-Christ. And then he dated him!" He was pulling his hair now. "That fucker _beat _him. He beat him! For YEARS! And it's my fault he ended up with that guy!"

"I don't think that's really all your fault, Le-"

"God, yes it is. It's all my fucking fault. Fuck. That guy messed him up so fucking bad... After Cloud and Sephiroth... Ended... It took him a year to stop flinching every time I touched him. Every time I put my hand on his shoulder he'd have a fucking panic attack."

"Kinda like you are now?" Leon glared at the blonde. "Look, bro, whatever this Sephiroth guy did, it HAD to have been like, ten times worse than what you did. Hell, I'm more to blame than you are. So I'm sure if you just expl-"

"Explain? Explain what? That it was my fault that all happened? That I was the one that put him in the hospital? That the only fucking reason we did it was 'cause we could? And then what, Seifer? He'll forgive me? Yeah fucking right." He was feeling incredibly nauseous. All this drinking and pacing was now seeming like a very bad idea. Seifer was talking to him but he couldn't hear anything he was saying. "Oh God," he said, putting a hand over his mouth and running to the bathroom. The last thing he saw was the toilet coming into view before everything went black.

Leon awoke to the sound of someone in the other room making far more noise than necessary. He wasn't sure why he was on the bathroom floor until he sat up. His head swam and throbbed. _'Fuuuuuuck.'_ he thought. His head protested even farther as he stood up. He looked around and spotted the sink. He stepped over to it and turned on the water. Sticking his head under the faucet he took a drink. He walked out of the bathroom and found Seifer in the kitchen whistling while he drank coffee and cooked eggs.

"Hey there, pretty boy. How ya feelin'?" Leon gave a grunt and sat down at the table and poured himself coffee. Seifer laughed. "Not so good, hmm?"

"Do you have any hangover potion?" Leon asked, taking a drink of his coffee.

"Sorry, bro, I don't. Never had a need for 'em." He scooped the eggs out onto two plates. "You never did either, back in the day. Gotten a little soft, eh?" Leon groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. Seifer put the plates on the table. "It's alright, I'll pick some up for you when I'm out."

"Where are you going?" Leon asked, taking another drink of coffee.

"Yuna has rehearsal at nine so I'll be heading out soon."

Leon nodded and took another drink. Then Seifer's words hit him and he choked slightly. "Wait, what time is it?"

Seifer looked at the time on his phone, "It's 8:54."

"Shiiiiiiit." Leon jumped up and ran into the living room and grabbed his coat off the chair he had been sitting in last night. He reached into the pocket and took out his phone but the screen was blank. "Fuck, it's dead. Seifer I have to go." He was going to be late. Cid would have his head for this. He put his shoes on without tying the laces. "Thanks for letting me stay here last night."

"No prollum, man." Seifer said through a mouth full of scrambled eggs.

Leon had gone into a shop to pick up a potion for his hangover. He was dismayed to discover he only had enough money on him for the low-dose potion. Those hardly did anything but it'd have to do for now.

After paying the clerk he ran out of the shop, chugging the potion on his way to the hotel.

**Yes... The boy Hayner was making out with was Peter Pan... **

**I feel so bad for Leon. I make him look like an alcoholic =[ I SWAER HE'S NOT!**

**Let me know what you think so far. I'm always so happy when I get an email telling me I have a review. =] And if there's a Disney character you'd like to see in this story let me know and I'll try to fit them in :D**


	8. The Others

Cloud had sat on the kitchen floor for what seemed like hours. Even after the tears had stopped flowing from his eyes he had just sat there staring at nothing, lost in trying to figure out how this had happened. Leon had left. How could this be? Leon was always there. Even when you didn't want him there he was always...

Cloud stood up and looked around. His eyes fell on the burnt ceiling. When Cloud had been momentarily frozen in fear, Leon had stepped forward and put out the flames. Leon had been there. But now...

Cloud turned away. He needed to go to work in the morning. Which meant he needed to go to bed. Alone. Without Leon...

Cloud walked into the bathroom and turned on the light. He went over to the sink and picked up his toothbrush. He turned on the water and stuck his toothbrush under it. He lifted his eyes to the mirror. He looked at himself and glared. _It's your fault he's gone, _a little voice in his head whispered. _You drove him away. You and all your questions. _"I just wanted him to talk to me." _He does talk to you. But you always push him away. And then when he left you cried like a baby. You're so weak. _Tears started to fall once more. Wiping them away he tilted his head down and saw that the water was still running. He turned it off. Leon hated wasting water...

He was suddenly very tired. Putting his toothbrush down he walked out of the bathroom and to the bedroom. He crawled into bed with his clothes on, too tired to bother with them.

He felt as if he had only just fallen asleep when his alarm went off. He lie there, staring at the ceiling while the beeping grew louder. He turned his head. No Leon. Sighing, he turned off the alarm and got out of bed. Grabbing some clothes he walked out of the room. He peaked into the living room just to see if maybe Leon had come back and slept on the couch last night. Nope. Turning around he walked into the bathroom. Dropping his clothes by the sink he looked in the mirror. "It's gonna be a loooong day."

0-0-0-0-0

As Cloud was maneuvering his way through a crowd of tourists, he was stopped by a man and a boy. The man looked, for lack of a better word, goofy. He was wearing a green hat, pants that looked four sizes too big for him and a belt helping to hold them up. His shoes were ones that seemed only fit for a clown. The boy, who looked extremely bored, was texting. He wore a red T-shirt that said "Powerline" in big black letters.

"Well shucks, pal, I was wonderin' if you could take a picture of me and my boy, Maxie?" the dad asked then gave a chuckle.

"Daaaad," The boy complained, "it's _Max_. Not Maxie."

The dad only chuckled in response. "Well.." Said Cloud. "I'm on my way to work... but all right." Taking the camera from the overly excited dad Cloud backed up and got them in the camera's focus. "Say...cheese, I guess."

"Gee thanks a bunch, pal!" The dad said, slapping Cloud on the back and taking the camera. "Maxie! Wait 'til I tell Donald that we got our photo taken RIGHT. OUT. SIDE uncle Scrooge's ice cream shop!"

"DAD. IT'S MAX." The boy said, not even looking up from his phone. "And I still don't know why you didn't take Donald on this stupid trip instead of me."

"Oh c'mon Maxie. You said you wanted to go to a concert. And The Others are gonna be playing here. So I decided to take you! And besides," the dad added "Donald may be my best bud, but you're my son and I love you."

"Ew." Said Max, still typing on his phone. "And the only people who like The Others are stupid girls and gay kids."

Cloud decided to leave while the dad was looking away, seeing as they were no longer talking to him and he really needed to get over to the Highwind hotel to meet up with everyone. The last bit of the conversation he heard was the dad saying something about how _he _liked the Others and he wasn't gay.

0-0-0-0-0

By the time he finally walked through the doors of the Highwind everybody was already there. Well, almost everybody. There was no sign of Leon.

Axel was standing over by the front desk, Riku was standing next to him and speaking in a whisper. Cloud could tell by the look on Axel's face that the redhead wished to be left alone. He could hear bits of their conversation as he walked past. "What are you going to do if he recognizes you?" Riku was asking. Axel replied through clenched teeth, "I don't know, Riku. For the last time, I. Don't. Know."

Cloud walked up beside Cid. "Where's Leon?" the older blonde asked.

"I'm not sure," said Cloud, "I thought he'd be here by now."

Five minutes later Cid called Leon's cell phone but there was no answer. Cid called 4 more times with the same result. Cloud called Yuffie and Tifa's house to see if Leon had gone there last night, but Tifa said that Leon never stopped by. "Are you two alright?" she asked. Cloud sighed. "I don't know, Tifa. I just... I gotta go."

Cid decided to start without Leon. After they checked out room The Others would be staying in they made their way to the roof. The Others were to be arriving by helicopter. It was when they got the call that The Others were just now flying over the city that Leon came running through the door to the flight of stairs. "Where the hell've you been?" shouted Cid.

Leon jogged over to them, slightly out of breath. "I'm sorry. My phone died and so my alarm didn't go off and I-"

"Shu'd up," Cid snapped. "Ya can explain later. The Others will be here any minute. An' straighten out y'r clothes. Ya look like crap."

"Right..." said Leon, straightening out his jacket and bending down to tie his shoes.

Cloud wanted to go over and talk to the brunet, but knew this wasn't the time or the place. So he stood over by Cid and waited for The Others to arrive.

When the helicopter landed Axel tried to put the hood of his jacket up to help cover his face but Cid slapped his hand away. "Do ya want t' look all shifty? Knock it off."

The helicopter door opened and a man with red hair tied up in a ponytail hopped out. Looking around at them all the man smiled and said, "Well, well, well, don't you all look like little rays of sunshine."

"Nice t' see you, too." said Cid, putting his hands on his hips.

The redhead grinned. "So this is the amazing team that's going to watch over my boys for a few days, eh?"

"I wasn't aware you gave birth to 'em, Reno. Congratulations." Cid said sarcastically.

The man named Reno laughed. "As grumpy as ever, I see." He walked by all of them one by one, looking them up and down. "What's it been, Cid, ten, twelve years?" When he came to Axel he stopped. His smile widened. "This oughta be good." Axel glared at the man. "Well," he said as he turned back to Cid. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have other plans. So," he walked over to the helicopter and banged on the side of it. "I guess it's time to meet the band, yeah?" A large dark skinned man stepped out of the helicopter followed by two young boys carrying suitcases. One of them, the brunet, looked extremely excited. Cloud thought it looked like he was about to pee his pants, the way he was hopping around. The other boy, this one blonde, looked wary of them all. "I'm sure you've at least glanced at their file, so you probably already know their names, but let's do some intro before we go our separate ways." He pulled the twins in front of the group. "This is Sora," he put his hand on the brunet's head, "and this," he put his other hand on the blonde's head, "is Roxas." Then he pointed to himself and the other man. "I'm Reno and this is Rude." He grinned as Cid rolled is eyes. He walked over to put his arm around the older blonde. "And this old devil," he said to the two young boys, "is Cid. He taught me everything I know about flying." Cid elbowed him in the stomach. Reno rubbed the spot tenderly. "And he's still got some fight left in him, so don't get on his bad side, 'kay?"

Sora grinned, "We won't." His brother didn't say anything, just looked away at the view of the city.

Reno then came over to Cloud. "This is Cloud, he's got very soft hair, so you'll have lots to talk about, Sora." Sora laughed, Reno patted the blonde on the back and moved on. "This is Leon, don't let his pretty face fool you, he's one hell of a tough guy." He than walked over to Riku. "And here we have Riku. He may seem completely ditzy, but don't worry, he's only partly ditzy." Reno laughed at the indigent look the young man gave him. Then he stopped in front of Axel. "This," he said with an evil smirk, "is Axel. You remember him, don't you, Roxas?" The young blonde turned his head sharply. Reno was grinning from ear to ear, whereas the other redhead was glaring at the ground. Riku was glaring as well, only his wasn't directed at the ground but at Reno. Roxas was staring at Axel, his eyes open as wide as they could go. _'Well, that was unexpected.'_ thought Cloud. "All right, kiddies, we gotta go," said Reno. "Don't get in too much trouble, 'kay?"

With that, Reno and Rude got back in the helicopter. Sora pulled Roxas over to stand a ways away from it as it started to lift off from the ground.

The group watched as they flew away. "A'right, 'nough standin' around," said Cid. He turned to the twins. "First we'll show ya the room you'll be stayin' in. Then we'll take ya to your rehearsal for the show. The other members of your band are already there so we'll make the tour quick." He nodded to the others. Cloud and Axel stood behind the twins while Leon and Riku took the front. "C'mon," Cid said, leading them off the roof and into the hotel.

Meanwhile~

Rude and Reno were sitting side by side, flying home. "That was very unprofessional," said Rude.

Reno smiled. "Yeah, but it sure was fun."

Rude tried to hide his smirk. "We should have stayed longer to make sure they'd be okay."

"They'll be fiiiiine," said Reno, waving his hand in a dismissive manner.

"Roxas didn't look fine."

Reno laughed. "Trust me," he said, turning his head to look out the window. "He'll do great."

**ANOTHERCHAPTERCANTHISBE?**

**Yes. Yes it can! :D**

**Have you ever seen "A Goofy Movie"? If so then you'll know who the father and son who asked Cloud for the picture are. If not, I suggest you watch it.**

**Lolololol Reno XD I like how he was all silly and douchey to the committee just to make Sora laugh. Roxas did not fall for it, though. He's too full of angst. Plus I don't think he likes Reno very much.**

**Alsoooooo if you want to see your favorite Disney dude or dude-et in here, let me know :]**


	9. Timless Pickles

There were a few technical problems, such as Sora's microphone shorting out at odd moments, and one of the cables connecting Roxas' electric piano to the soundboard wasn't working. But those were worries for Wakka, the head roadie for The Others. The committee's job wasn't to make sure the show was a hit, it was to make sure Ansem's sons were safe. Despite all that the rehearsal went well. They met the other members of the band, Demyx and Titus. Demyx played the guitar and Titus the drums.

The rehearsal lasted a few hours, in which Seifer came over to Leon to introduce Yuna, his girlfriend and the lead singer in the band that would be opening for The Others at the festival. Cid quickly noticed and started yelling at Leon through the headset they each wore.

It was three in the afternoon by the time they left. Sora announced he wanted a hamburger, "With lots of pickles," he added, rubbing his hands together and licking his lips.

"You are so nasty," said Roxas.

"Oh c'mon, Roxas. You know you loooove them," he said, wiggling his fingers in Roxas' face.

Roxas knocked his brother's hand away. "Ya know," said Cid. "There's a burger place a few blocks from here." Sora cheered and hopped up and down. Roxas sighed. "You okay with that, Roxas?"

"Yeah," the blonde replied with another sigh. "It's fine."

The restaurant was an old fashioned burger joint called Timeless River. It had everything you could imagine, from a jukebox in the corner to waitresses on roller skates. They each ordered a burger- Sora's with extra pickles- except Roxas, who only ordered fries. To which he picked at and only ate a few. "Somethin' wrong, kid?" asked Cid.

Roxas shook his head. "Just not all that hungry." Cid eyed him suspiciously then shrugged, taking a bite of his burger. Sora took a big bite of his own burger and a pickle fell out of the side. Roxas gagged and had to turn away.

"So," said Riku, "why don't you like pickles?"

Sora laughed. "Do you wanna tell them, or should I?" Roxas glared but Sora continued. "They used to be his favorite up until he was fourteen."

"Sora," Roxas said warningly.

Sora ignored him. "One day I dared him to eat a whole jar and drink the juice. He ended up throwing it all up. What a waste." He shook his head in mock disappointment. Riku snickered but stopped when Axel shot him a dirty look from across the table.

Roxas didn't notice this exchange as he was looking at the three kids sitting next to the jukebox. They had been playing the same song over and over again this entire time and it was growing more and more annoying every minute. The song was about to end and one of the boys was now fishing in his pocket for another quarter. Roxas jumped up and walked over to the jukebox. He pulled a quarter out and put it in the machine, hitting the first song on the list. '_Anything but that stupid song.'_ he thought to himself. Once the song started playing he went back to his table. He sat down and was aware of his group staring at him. Perhaps he looked a bit crazy when he jumped up unexpectedly, only to rush over and play a song from the 50's on an old machine. He ignored them and popped a fry in his mouth. He heard a cough from his left and looked up. It was one of the three boys. Maybe he had come over to tell him off? "What?" asked Roxas uncomfortably.

"Um," said the boy nervously. He was wearing a red hat and holding a napkin in his hand. "Are you Roxas Lee from The Others?" When Roxas nodded the boy's face lit up. "Could I have your autograph?" He held out the napkin and a marker. Roxas took them. "Make it out to the three ducks, kay?" Roxas quickly wrought in the napkin and handed it back. "Thanks!" said the boy, looking at the napkin in awe. "I love your music so much," he said, now looking at Roxas in earnest.

"Uh, thanks." said Roxas. The boy walked away to go show his friends the napkin. They all cheered.

"Why didn't they ask for my autograph?" pouted Sora.

"They probably just didn't see you," said Roxas consolingly, patting his twin on the back. Sora nodded but continued to pout. He pushed his hamburger away and sat dejectedly in his seat. "Hey, Sora," said Roxas in an excited voice, poking him in the side. "You wanna go look around the city?" Sora gave a slight smile and nodded. Roxas turned to Cid. "Can we?"

Cid thought about it. It was obvious Roxas was trying to cheer his brother up. Though why Sora was moping over not being asked for an autograph, Cid didn't understand. From what he'd heard, Sora was the more popular of the two. So what if for once his brother got a little more attention than himself? "You won't be able to go alone," he said.

"Oh yay!" Shouted Sora, jumping up out of his chair. Roxas laughed. For the first time that day he wasn't frowning, glaring or looking bored out of his mind. And Axel took notice.

The team had taken the two boys around the main parts of the city, pointing out their own favorite spots, and hidden walkways that the average tourist wouldn't notice. They had just finished looking over the bailey and were heading back to the market place when Roxas spotted two paths leading away from the bailey. "Where do those lead?"

The group turned around. "That leads to the city's computer lab," said Leon, pointing to the right. "And that," he pointed to the left. "Leads to what we call the great maw."

"Well can we go check 'em out?" Asked Roxas.

"No can do, kid." said Cid. "The computer lab is off limits to civilians, an' the great maw is a hell of a hike. And the sun's settin' already, it'd be insane t' try and clime that big mountain in the dark. Hell," he added with a disapproving look at Leon. "Even in the light of day it's an accident waitin' to happen."

Leon chuckled. "Well _some_ of us don't mind a challenge." He slapped Cid on the shoulder. "C'mon," he said to the twins. "We've gotta get you back to the hotel now."

"Aww!" Whined Sora. "No fair."

"Okay," said Cid. "Tonight, Cloud and Axel are going to be sleeping in the room right through that door." He pointed to the door across the room. "If you need anything, just yell, they'll be in here in two seconds."

The twins nodded, Sora more enthusiastically than Roxas. Both the boys went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

Axel was getting something out of his duffel bag when Riku came up to him "So," he said in a hushed voice. "That's Roxas? A lot more moody than I'd expected."

Axel scoffed. "He wasn't like that when I met him."

"Riiight," said Riku teasingly. "You know, it's okay if you're into the whole emo thing. It's none of my busi-" he was cut off by a punch to the arm by Axel. "Ow," he said, laughing and rubbing the spot on his arm. "Dick." Axel just smirked and shook his head.

Cloud was in the other room sitting on one of the beds and setting the alarm on his phone when Leon came in. "Hey," he said, crossing his arms nervously.

"Hey," Cloud said, standing up and putting his phone in his pocket.

"I know now isn't the best time," said Leon, unfolding and refolding his arms. "So when this mission is over we should talk. I have a lot to tell you."

Cloud nodded, knowing Leon was right about now not being the time for discussing this, but wishing he'd say more. He thought he might get his wish, as it looked like Leon was about to say something, but the brunet shook his head and made to leave. "Leon," Cloud called, stepping forward to grab the other man's arm. Leon stopped but stayed facing the closed door. "Whatever it is," he said solemnly. "I may not like it, but I'll never hate you."

Leon turned with a sad smile. "You say that now..." He placed a hand on the side of Cloud's face. "Just remember, even if you do end up hating me, I will never stop loving you." and against his better judgment, Leon leaned forward and kissed Cloud softly on the lips. When they pulled apart he rested their foreheads together. "I'm sorry I didn't come home last night."

Cloud gave a soft, sad laugh, "It's okay." He wished Leon could stay. He didn't care if they talked or not, just so as they could lie together and sleep. But he knew he couldn't. They had a job to do. Or more importantly, _he_ had a job to do with Axel. He laughed at that.

"What's so funny?" asked Leon.

"I'm going to be stuck in a room with a pyro the whole night." Leon laughed as well, which in turn had Cloud laughing more. They fed off each others mirth til they were holding one another up as their knees began to get weaker by the second. It seemed terribly ironic that someone who was so petrified by fire should be teamed up with someone who got so much joy from the mere mention of the word.

They finally stopped once the redhead in question came through the door. "Am I interrupting?" he asked uncertainly.

Leon shook his head. "No, it's all right." he said to Axel. "I should be going anyway." He turned to Cloud and smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow." He gave him a quick kiss then left. As he walked down the hall leading to the elevator it dawned on him that that moment he had just shared with Cloud could very well be the last. As he stepped into the lift he promised himself that no matter what, he _would_ tell Cloud everything. He deserved to know the truth. Even if it meant losing him forever.

**Guys... I love pickles. Not gonna lie. Roxas don't know what he's missin'. Well actually he does... And he really doesn't miss them at all XD**

**FFFUUU SORA! Why 're you such a drama llama? Feelin' sorry for yourself... I slap you. * Slap* Lol actually Riku's gonna end up being more of a drama llama than Sora XD Just a heads up.**

**The song the three kids were playing was "Who Put The Bomp" by Barry Mann. And in my head those three boys are Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck =]**

**And the song that Roxas played was "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins.**

**And as for Roxas and Sora's last name being Lee, I chose it because Christopher Lee was the voice actor for Ansem The Wise, their father.**


	10. Hang On Little Tomato

That night Axel lie awake, unable to sleep do to the fact that he could hear the two boys in the adjacent room talking. He couldn't make out what they were saying, and despite telling himself he didn't _want_ to hear what they were saying, that it was none of his business anyway, his ears still strained to catch even the tiniest bit of conversation. It was nearing midnight by the time the twins feel asleep. And yet Axel still lie there, his brain working over time and yet not working at all. He had no excuse as to why he couldn't sleep. There was no noise to keep him up, no light spilling in under a door or through a curtain. Yet there he was, wide awake. '_This is stupid,'_ he thought to himself. He got up and put a jacket and some shoes on. He knew he shouldn't leave his post, but what good would he be in the morning if he couldn't sleep tonight? With that reasoning in his mind he walked as quietly as he could across the room and out the door.

He made it to the roof without seeing a single person. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He put one of the little cancer filled things to his lips and lit it. Inhaling he closed his eyes.

"Those aren't very good for you." Said a voice from near the edge of the roof.

Axel turned around to face the person, reaching for his gun and then mentally kicking himself for leaving it behind in the room. He calmed down somewhat when he recognized the blonde boy standing there looking at him. "Roxas," he said with a sigh. "How the hell did you get out of your room?"

"Same way you did, I'd imagine," he said crossing his arms. "Through the door."

Axel snorted in contempt and looked away. "Guess we'll have to start putting a guard outside the door."

"Guess so," said Roxas. Then he pointed out, "Though you won't be able to sneak out for a cigarette if you do that."

"I think I'll manage," replied Axel. He wasn't in the mood for this back-and-forth shit. He just wanted to finish his cigarette and go to bed.

He was about to tell the blonde to go back to the room so he could finish in peace when he said, "How have you been?"

Fuck. That.

He could handle the moody and angst-y teen, hell, he could have handled him being openly hostile, but he could not handle this. Having Roxas pretend to care, to make _small talk._ That he couldn't do. "Fine," he said as he took another drag. It was almost out, just a few more minutes left and he could leave.

"I've missed you." Roxas said in a small voice. He was about to say something else when Axel whirled around.

"Shut up," he nearly shouted through clenched teeth. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You don't get to miss me," he said in a sightly more controlled voice. "You're the one that gave up on us, you're the one that left. And you didn't even-" He cut himself off, taking another deep breath to steady himself. "You didn't even tell me you were leaving. You turned your phone off for fuck's sake."

"I'm sorry," said Roxas fervently. Taking a few steps forward he continued. "I had no choice, Axel. I'm so, so sorry."

Axel scoffed. "No one held a gun to your head."

"Not to _my_ head, no." Was the reply.

"What the hell does that mean?" he asked, fed up with not getting any real answers. Though to be fair, he hadn't really asked a question yet. "Roxas, just tell me, why?"

Roxas shook his head slightly. "I can't tell you, Axel, I'm sorry."

"Would you stop fucking saying that?" He hated it. Roxas wasn't sorry. He didn't even have a reason for why he left. No warning, no call, no E-mail. Nothing. He had just left.

"But I am," Roxas said, stepping forward til they were mere feet apart.

"No, you're not. If you were sorry you'd tell me, why did you leave?"

"I ca-"

"Don't say that!" shouted the redhead. "Don't tell me you can't. If you didn't want to be with me, why didn't you just tell me? If I was so difficult to be around that you had to fucking move away, why didn't you just say so?"

"That's not it." Said Roxas, on the verge of tears. "I cared about you, Axel, I really did. That's why I had to leave. What do you think he would have done to you- to us, if I had refused to go?"

Axel threw his hands in the air in frustration. "Who? Who has control over your life like that?"

"Who do you think?" Roxas' lip was shaking now. Axel could tell he was about to cry but he told himself he didn't care. So long as he got answers it didn't matter. "We hung out for months, Axel, who did I hardly ever talk about, but when I did I didn't have the nicest things to say?"

Axel snorted. "Please, Roxas, we all have daddy issues, but this is taking it way too far. You expect me to believe your father forced you to go? That he didn't give you any heads up about you moving at all? No time to even say goodbye?"

"I told you what he was like."

"You told me he liked trying to control you. That he always favored your brother over you. That doesn't exactly scream: 'hey, pack your stuff, we're moving in the middle of the night.'" he said in a mocking voice.

"Fine." said Roxas, a few tears falling down his face. "You asked why I left and I told you. If you don't want to believe me, that's your problem." He walked past Axel, heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Axel angrily.

"I'm going to bed," said the blonde without even breaking stride. "I have a rehearsal in the morning."

With that he walked to the door and opened it, leaving Axel standing there with a pissed off look on his face. The redhead lifted his cigarette to his lips and tried to take a drag, only to realize it had already burnt down to the filter. "Shit." He threw the bud on the ground and stomped on it in frustration. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. He made a disgruntled noise and tugged at his red roots. "Shit," he said again.

He began his slow walk back to the hotel room, not knowing Roxas was just now walking through his door, tears and snot falling freely. "Roxas?" Sora said sleepily.

"hey Sora," said Roxas, trying, and failing, to hide his water logged voice.

Sora got out of bed and walked over to Roxas. "What happened?" he asked, putting both his hands on the blond's face. Roxas gave a sob and shook his head. Sora hugged his brother and made soft shushing sounds. "It's okay, Rox," he said softly. "It'll be okay."

**CIGARETTES ARE BAD FOR YOU AND ARE NASTY AND YEAH. Mmkay? Mmkay.**

**B'AWW! SORRY ROXIE! I hate makin' 'em cry D: I didn't think there would be so many water works in this story :/ oooh well.**

**Chapter title based on Pink martini's song by the same name. Don't worry Roxie, your sunny someday will come someday soon~**

**And if you want to see any of your fav Disney peeps let me know =]**


	11. Snow Globes

"Because it's a stupid song and I don't want to play it." Roxas had been in a horrible mood since the moment he had woken up that morning and no one seemed to know why. Though Riku suspected Axel did because the redhead wasn't in that great of a mood either. They were at the rehearsal and they were in the middle of playing a song when Roxas stopped and said he wanted to take it out of the setlist for the last day of the festival. The setlists had been planned a month in advance and the song he wanted to take out was their number one song at the moment.

"Is he always this bossy?" Leon asked Wakka.

Wakka shook his head. "Nah, man. It's usually Sora complaining about stuff, and Roxas is usually chill and lets him get his way. Somethin' must be up."

"Roxas, you love that song. You wrote it." Sora said, confused as to why his brother suddenly didn't want to play it. "Our fans love it, too. We can't jus-."

"Why? Last show we played you took out three songs." Roxas pointed out. "I'm not playing that song. You can do the show without me if you want, but I'm not playing it."

The song in question was entitled The Luckiest. Roxas had wrote it less than a year ago and it had been an instant success and stayed in the top ten in music charts all over the world. In the song, he would play the piano and Demyx would play the violin. It was the only song the band had in which he was the only singer. In all the others it was either Sora and him or just Sora. What no one knew, not even Sora, was that the song was about Axel. And there was no way he was singing it in front of everyone after what happened last night.

"Well what song do you want to replace it with?" asked Sora. The list had already been a short one for the last day and now it was way too short. They needed another song, and it needed to be as good as Roxas'.

"We could do The Faster the Treadmill." He suggested.

Sora shook his head. "That's on day one's setlist." It went on like this for a while. Roxas would suggest a song and Sora would either not like it, or he'd point out that it was already in the other setlist.

This process became very boring for Riku and he soon started zoning out. This mission had turned out a lot more dull then he'd expected. You'd think being a body guard for two famous teens would be more exciting. And Axel even dated one of them. Surely there would at least be a little drama there, right? Wrong. Or at least if there was any, Axel wasn't telling Riku about it. And what's worse, Leon and Cloud seemed to be doing better. They weren't doing that awkward no-eye-contact-or-the-world-will-know-something-is-wrong thing anymore. Boring. Boring, boring, bori- Oh hey, pretty girls.

Yuna had just walked in with two other girls by her side. One with blonde hair and one with gray. The blonde was hopping up and down and talking non-stop to Yuna. She was wearing an orange shirt and a green skirt with an orange and yellow belt. The gray haired girl was wearing leather. Lots and lots of leather. Riku gave a lecherous chuckle under his breath and was then smacked upside the head by Cid. Riku hadn't realized the man had been standing behind him. He rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly at Cid.

"Rikku!" shouted Sora. Riku turned to look only to find out that the boy wasn't calling him, but the blonde girl.

"Sora!" They both hugged and spun around. Sora evidently forgetting about Roxas and the setlist. The blonde boy was not pleased.

"Hey, girls." said Wakka. "Sorry, we're running a little late. Roxas wants to drop a song and we're trying to figure out what to replace it with."

"It's alright," said Yuna cheerfully. "What song are you dropping?"

As Wakka explained to Yuna about the song, the gray haired girl walked over to Roxas and they started talking. Sora and Rikku were talking right by Riku and he couldn't hear what the gray haired girl was saying. Trying not to attract anyone's attention, namely Cid's, Riku slowly made his way over by the other wall so he could eavesdrop on their conversation.

They were talking so quietly that Riku could hardly make out what they were saying. "The guy's gonna be at the show." said Roxas.

"All the more reason to play it." Said the girl.

"Paine," '_So, that's her name.' _thought Riku. "The way things went last night-" Riku couldn't hear what the blonde said next because Sora and Rikku wear now singing "It's a small world" as loudly as they could.

Wakka managed to quiet them down and Riku was able to hear the last bit of what Paine said. "You're playing it the last day of the festival, right?" Roxas nodded. "Well, you'll be leaving the next day. You'll never see him again. So suck it up and play the damn song." She smacked him on the shoulder and walked away, leaving Roxas looking grumpy and worried.

Once Roxas had called Sora over and told him he'd play the song they ended the rehearsal so the girls could practice. They ate lunch at a place called Nemo's which was sushi restaurant where blue, orange and black seemed to be the color scheme of choice.

"I don't get it," said Riku as he stared at Roxas slurping up eel with some sort of sauce on it. "You can eat _that,_ but you can't eat pickles?" The blonde shrugged and kept eating. Riku wrinkled his nose and turned away. Riku didn't like Sushi very much. Or fish in any way shape or form. They had all ordered some sort of fishy thing except for him, who ordered the soup of the day. And he threatened the life of anyone who tried to tell him what was in it. It tasted good, he liked it and knowing what was in it would only ruin it. Ignorance is bliss, as they say. To keep his mind off the ew factor of his fishy surroundings he turned to Leon. "Hey, Leon, guess who I saw this morning?"

"Who?"

"Valentine," he said. "He was out in the daylight, can you believe it?" Both Riku and Leon laughed.

Cloud, overhearing, glared at them. "Why are you laughing? He's albino, he can't help that the sunlight hurts."

Leon stopped laughing but Riku still sniggered. Leon said, "I know, he's just..." Leon liked being on Cloud's good side. Especially since he probably wouldn't be for very much longer. "He's just kinda weird is all."

"Well he may be weird," said Cloud hotly. "But he's the most honest and loyal person I know. And he has better aim than anyone here, including you." He shot a nasty look at Riku to shut him up. It was well known that the silver haired boy prized himself on his record in marksmanship. "He could shoot the fleas off a cat with more accuracy with just a pistol than you could with a sniper rifle." Cloud received an approving smirk from Cid. The older blonde quite liked Vincent, though he would never admit to it.

"Could not," Riku muttered moodily under his breath.

After they left Nemo's they walked around the marketplace, going into shops and looking at what they had to offer. Sora bought two shirts and a hat while Roxas bought a snow globe with a mini version of Hollow Bastion inside. "Aren't those for little kids and old ladies?" asked Riku rudely.

Roxas shrugged, "I like 'em." He shook it and watched the little white flecks swirl around. "I've never seen snow in real life, this is kind of a substitute I guess."

"What, never?" asked Riku in amazement.

Roxas shook his head. "I grew up on Destiny Island and it never snowed there. We moved to Oblivia and lived there for two years, but I guess it rarely ever snowed there. Like, once every five to eight years or something. And last year we moved to Twilight town, but it was a warm winter, so," He shrugged. "Oh well."

"You know," said Riku, an idea hitting him. "Axel's parents live in *Nogard, and it snows there every year."

"Yeah, I know," said Roxas with a smile. "He used to talk about them all the-" he stopped, the smile fading from his face. He shook his head and put the snow globe away, saying, "We should get back to the hotel, it's getting dark."

'_Drat,' _thought Riku. He was sure that would work. Axel wouldn't talk to him anymore about Roxas, so all that was left was to get Roxas to talk about Axel. But alas. It seemed neither one wanted to talk about the other. How boring.

As they walked back to the Highwind hotel the blonde asked, "So, who's going to be looking after us tonight?"

"Me and Cid." answered Riku.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Great."

Riku glared. He had the feeling Roxas didn't like him very much.

Once they got to their room Axel, Leon and Cloud left for the night. Leaving Cid and Riku with the twins. "So," said Riku brightly once Cid went into the other room. "Anything you guys want to _talk_ about? Perhaps some relationship advice from an older, wiser man?"

Roxas snorted. "You may be older, but I doubt you're wiser."

Riku crossed his arms. "And what makes you say that?"

"Well, are you seeing anyone right now?"

"Well...no."

"So you're single?" Asked Roxas with a laugh. "And you want to give me relationship advise?" He laughed again, turning his back to Riku and walking into the bathroom.

'S_not nosed brat,'_ thought Riku as he glared at the closed door Roxas just shut.

"Don't mind him," said Sora. "He's always been touchy about relationships. Ever since we moved to Twilight Town."

"Oh really?" said Riku. _'If you couldn't ask the people involved, ask the brother.'_

"Yeah," Sora said distractedly. He was pulling a pair of Pj's out of a drawer. "He had been seeing someone while we lived in Oblivia. Nasty brake up, I guess. He cried for weeks. 'Course that was also about the time his dog died, so I don't know. He doesn't really like to talk about it."

"Hmm," hummed Riku. "And, uh, who was the person he was seeing?"

Sora shrugged. "No idea. He never said. Though I think he really liked 'em." He giggled and turned to Riku. "You know that song he didn't want to sing at practice today?" Riku nodded. "I think he wrote it for them." He giggled again. "The guy probably has no idea there's a song written about him. And it's a well known song, too. Isn't that funny?"

"That is funny," said Riku with a smirk. He wondered what Axel would say if he knew that Roxas had written him a song. A _love_ song, no less. "Well," he said, snapping out of his wandering thoughts. "The festival starts tomorrow. Better get some sleep." And with that he walked into the room he'd be sharing with Cid, head full of ideas involving Axel and Roxas. Things were about to get interesting, he could feel it.

**Roxas' song: The Luckiest by Ben Folds. **

**Yeah I know having a sushi place named Nemo is kinda ew BUT I DON'T CARE I'M NOT TAKING IT BACK D: IF YOU WANT TO FIND NEMO, GO THERE.**

**I actually like the movie Finding Nemo. However, I do NOT like sushi. It be nasty business. :p**

"**He could shoot the fleas off a cat"... Yeah... I seem to have turned Cloud into a hick... Sorry.**

***Nogard – Dragon spelled backwards. My sneaky way of saying Axel's parents live in The Land of Dragons. Mulan's world in KH2 =]**


	12. The Walk Home

Axel stopped for a beer at the Flying Pig before heading home. He walked up to the counter and ordered. Taking a quick look around he saw the place was packed. Many out of towners and even more locals were laughing and shouting all over the room. He spotted Yuffie and Tifa sitting at a table in the corner. "Hey," he said as he walked over to the girls, drink in hand.

"Hey," they both said. "How's it going with The Others?" asked Yuffie.

Axel sat down and shrugged. "It's okay." He snatched a pretzel from a bowl on the table and popped it in his mouth. Truth was, he didn't know how he felt about it anymore. Originally he had been pissed. He had resented Cid for making him take part in this mission. But now... Having Roxas sprung on him like that had thrown him for a loop, but it had also made him reevaluate his feelings towards the blonde. He had thought he had gotten over Roxas. He thought he had moved on and was done with him. Sure, he hadn't dated anyone since, but so what? Just because you don't go out boning everyone in sight, doesn't mean you're still hung up on someone else... Right? He was still mad at Roxas for leaving without even saying anything. But he missed him. He missed him and he wasn't sure what to do about it. Sure, he could just forgive him for stomping all over his heart. Forget about how much it had hurt to realize the blonde was gone and didn't care enough about him to say goodbye. Stop asking why Roxas had left... No. He needed to know. He had to find out... But could he get the blonde to tell him? Did he really want to make him say it? Say that it was because he didn't care, that he didn't feel the same?

"Someone's brooding," said Tifa in a teasing voice. "Would you like to share with the rest of the class?"

"There's nothin' to share," he said as he grabbed another pretzel and got his hand smacked by Tifa. He stuck his tongue out at her as he put one of the twisted snacks in his mouth.

"Come on," said Yuffie. "It's obvious something's bothering you."

"Oh really?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Mmhmm, and I know what it is." she sang.

"And what's bothering me, oh great one?" he asked, leaning back even farther.

"Roxas. You like him."

Axel fell backwards with a crash. "Ho-how- that's not- why would I-" he stammered from his sprawled position on the floor.

"Please, Axel," she said in a superior fashion. "I'm a girl. And a ninja. I have my ways."

Axel glared. "Riku told you, didn't he?" At the grins on the two girls faces he growled and got up. "That ass. He's more of a gossip than you two combined."

"Now, now." Said Tifa, waving her finger at him. "I'll have none of that language. Not if you want us to help you."

Axel scoffed. "Help me? With what?"

"With your problem." said Yuffie with way too much enthusiasm. "You like him, he may or may not like you," she said with a wave of her hands. "We're going to do some investigating for you. Figure stuff out-"

"No, you're not." Axel said. He sat back in his chair and sighed. "Look, I know you two mean well... I think. But really, I don't need your help." He took a drink of his beer. "He's leaving Monday morning. So even if he did still like me, which I doubt, it wouldn't matter."

"Well, maybe if you talked to him he wouldn't leave." Tifa suggested.

Axel laughed. "Yes, he would." He had a sour smirk on his face. "It didn't stop him last time." The two girls waited for him to elaborate but he just took another drink and looked around the room, seemingly bored.

"And how did that make you feel?" Tifa asked, annoyance laced her voice. "Angry? Mad? Upset? Bummed? Sad? Troubled? Heav-"

"See, now you're just abusing the thesaurus." Said Axel with a laugh. He sighed and ruffled his hair. "Okay, look, I never told Riku this, but," he took a quick look around to make sure no one was listening to them. "That night with Roxas, I _might _have... told him... that I thought I might be..." He looked down at his hands nervously.

"You told him you loved him," said Yuffie in a small voice.

Axel laughed again and looked up with a sad smile. "How stupid was that? Probably scared him off."

Tifa shook her head. "No, Axel, that wasn't stupid."

"Then why did he leave?" he asked, his voice shaking slightly. As the two girls exchanged sad looks he dropped his head once more. "I told him that the night before he left. And he said he felt the same. I just... " he said frustratedly. "I really wanted... I thought that he felt the same, ya know? I mean he _said_-" his voice cracked. He cleared his throat and said, "Whatever." He stood up. "What's done is done, right?" He looked at his watch. "Well, I should go. Work tomorrow... I'll see you guys at the festival I guess." He waved and made his way to the door. As he walked out into the dark streets he was unaware of the fact that now the two girls were more determined than ever to help him with Roxas.

For Leon and Cloud the walk home was peaceful. There were people in the street setting things up for the festival in the morning. Men were up on ladders, putting lanterns and strands of lights high on the tops of shops and in trees. "Hey, Leon?" said the blonde, watching the people hang banners and streamers all around. The brunet hummed and Cloud continued. "Do you remember, after the meeting last week, when we were told about The Others, how you said you had something to tell me?"

Leon thought for a moment then he remembered. "Oh, yeah," he smiled. He was happy he had some _good_ news to tell Cloud. "Well, once everyone had left I talked to Merlin, we'd been talking for a while before that, for about a week, actually. He has this friend, Yen Sid, who specializes in trauma related fears, and Merlin said he might be able to help you with your pyrophobia."

"Really?" Cloud asked, not quite willing to get his hopes up.

"Mmhmm," said Leon, his smile growing. "He's agreed to meet with you next month."

"Oh, Leon," Cloud said as he hugged him. "Thank you."

The hug was a bit painful, as Cloud was rather strong, but Leon didn't care, he returned it just the same, inhaling the scent from the blonde hair just below his nose. And for all you children out there who think smelling people is cool or cute, it's not. It's actually rather creepy. But in this case, Leon thought it was alright. They held hands the rest of the way home, Cloud humming "Pop Song" as they went.

"That song's stuck in your head again?" asked Leon. Last month Cloud had listened to the song for the first time and it had been stuck in his head for a week.

"Yeah," said Cloud with a sigh.

"Well, I'm sure tomorrow you'll have a bunch of other songs fighting for that right."

"Gee, thanks." said Cloud with a smile.

Twenty minutes latter~

Leon and Cloud sat awkwardly on the bed, both half dressed and neither meeting the others eye. "Sorry," Leon said as he massaged the bride of his nose between two fingers. He was at the foot of the bed and Cloud was up by the pillows, his knees up to his chin.

They had gotten home and Cloud had jumped him. Literally. The blonde had jumped in his arms and started kissing him fiercely. Not being one to refuse such actions from his boyfriend, Leon reciprocated. They had quickly made their way to the bedroom and started removing their clothing with haste. Cloud had been underneath him when he had frozen. His face fell- as well as other parts of his body- and an unpleasant feeling started growing in his stomach. Guilt. He had tried to continue, he knew Cloud wanted to, but he couldn't. He just couldn't do it. He couldn't have sex with the man he was lying to. The man who trusted him and loved him. DAMN HIS NOBLE DISPOSITION! He was feeling far too guilty. God, he felt sick.

"'S alright." Cloud mumbled from behind his knees. "Is it..." he hesitated. "Is it me? Am I not... what you want anymore?"

"No, that's not it." he said frustratedly. "It's not you, it's me." He gave a tired laugh at the cliché. He looked at Cloud and smiled sadly. "Maybe it would be best if I slept on the couch tonight?"

"No," Cloud said, unfolding himself from his huddled position. "No, please, Leon." He crawled across the bed to sit by the brunet. "We don't have to do anything, okay? Just... just stay."

Not wanting to deny Cloud anything else tonight he agreed. A short time later they lie there, the blonde already asleep, his head resting on Leon's shoulder. It took Leon much longer to fall asleep, uncomfortable in the way his stomach churned.

**I don't know if you guys remember, but in chapter three, before Seifer showed up, Leon had been playing the guessing game with Cloud. And like RIGHT before Seifer distracted Leon, he was about to give in and tell Cloud... Took awhile to get there, but now ya know. Lol I suck XD**

**And The flying Pig is a bar that was mentioned in chapter three as well.**

**Pop Song – Starfucker.**


	13. I Know What You Did Last Summer

**WARRNING! This chapter may upset some readers.**

**Contains: blood, abuse to an animal, vomit, meanness of adults. **

~About a year ago~

Roxas walked through the hall of his far too big house with a smile on his face. His night with Axel had been great. Nothing could ruin his good mood. Or at least that's what he thought. He made it to the second step on the stairs when a hand was put on his shoulder. He jumped and turned around. "Oh, Reno, you scared me." He gave a slight laugh. "What's up?" Reno was Roxas' favorite guard. He was funny and though he was under his father's employ, he wasn't mean like all the others. And he always had a smile on his face. Only this time, there was no smile. "What's wrong?"

"Your father wants to see you. He's waiting in his study." He said, starting to lead Roxas away from the stairs and down a corridor.

"Oh," said Roxas. "Is that all? From the look on your face I that someone had died." He laughed. They walked down many hallways leading to his father's study in silence. This was very unusual since you normally couldn't get the redhead to shut up. "What does he want to talk to me about?"

"Roxas," said Reno in a voice the blonde didn't recognize. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" asked Roxas, confused.

But the redhead looked away without answering and opened the door to Ansem's study.

He walked into the room. His father was sitting behind his desk and there were two people standing on either side of him. Two body guards named Marluxia and Xigbar. There was another man standing in the corner of the room. His name was Saïx. Roxas had it on good authority that this man was part of his father's... interrogation unit. Whenever Ansem wanted to know something and no one wanted to talk, he'd send this man in. And as the saying goes, in the end, everybody talks. The man was standing there with a grin plastered to his face. He was holding the end of a rope in one hand and on the fingers of his other hand he had iron reavers. Attached to the end of the rope was Pluto, Roxas' dog. The dog had a muzzle on and yet looked as happy as ever. His tail wagged when he saw Roxas and he tried to go over to him but was stopped by Saïx. He knelt down and rubbed his face against the dog in a loving manner. "You're going to be so sorry you bit me last week, aren't ya boy? Oh, yes you are."

"Hello, son." Said Ansem the Wise from behind his desk. "It has come to my attention that you have broken a promise you made to me. This is a very serious offense." He nodded to the blue haired man.

Saïx tied the rope he was holding to a metal statue in the room. Then he pet Pluto with his newly freed hand while with the other he stabbed the dog with the iron reavers on his fingers.

"Holy shit!" shouted Roxas in alarm. He made to run over but Reno grabbed him from behind and held him there. "Let go of me!"

"You've been seeing that boy, Axel. I specifically told you to stay away from him. You promised me, Roxas." He snapped his fingers and Saïx continued his assault on the dog. Pluto yipped, whined and growled. He strained against the rope that was binding him, but the statue to which it was tied was too heavy and wouldn't budge.

"Stop!" shouted Roxas again, struggling against the man holding him back. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Stop!" Roxas continued to struggle. "Dad please, please, I get it, okay? I won't see him anymore. Please, this isn't Pluto's fault."

Ansem snapped his fingers and Saïx let go of the dog and backed away. Pluto whimpered on the floor, blood pooling around him. "I know you won't see Mr. Flynn again, Roxas." He said in a grave voice. "We're moving, you see. To Twilight town. This very evening, in fact. Sora has already been informed. He is under the impression that the move is for the benefit of your band. I expect you to go along with it." He snapped his fingers and Xigbar went over to Roxas and took the blonde's cell phone out of his pocket and then handed it to his boss. "I'll be getting you a new phone." he said, putting it in his desk. "And you will have no further communication with that boy, is that understood?" He took Roxas' blank stair as confirmation. "Well then," he said with a smile. "I think it's time you go pack. We'll be leaving soon. Just a bag with some clothes is all you'll need. The staff will pack the rest once we've left." Reno then steered Roxas toward the door. "Oh, and son," he called. "I am sorry about your dog. Perhaps we can get you a new one?"

As the door closed Roxas could hear Pluto whining pitifully on the floor. Then a gun went off and he could no longer hear his dog at all.

They walked to his and Sora's room without talking. Roxas felt like a zombie. That couldn't have just happened. That didn't just happen. He was dreaming. He was having a nightmare. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't real. There had been something in the popcorn at the movie. Axel had put something in it or- Axel. What about Axel? He'd never get to see him again. Ever. He wouldn't be able to say goodbye.

He hadn't realized they had arrived until he accidentally ran into Reno. "We're here," he said to the blonde. Roxas nodded and made to open the door but Reno put his hand on Roxas' shoulder. ""Roxas," he said. "I'm sorry."

"Then why'd you let it happen?" Roxas asked. His voice wasn't one filled with rage or sorrow. It wasn't filled with anything. It mimicked perfectly what he was feeling. Nothing.

"It's my job to follow orders."

"Congratulations," said Roxas. He had meant it to come out sarcastically, but instead it came out like before. Empty. "You did a wonderful job." He opened the door to his room to find Sora packing a suitcase.

His twin looked up and beamed at him. "Oh, Roxas, isn't it great? Twilight Town!" He did a happy dance but stopped when he realized Roxas wasn't smiling. "What's wrong?"

"He just found out Pluto was hit by a car." Reno said quickly.

"What?" said Sora in shock. "Is he okay?" When Reno shook his head Sora rushed over to Roxas and hugged him. "Oh, Roxas, I'm so sorry."

Roxas let him. He didn't hug back. He didn't have the energy. After a few moments he started feeling ill. Images of Pluto covered in blood ran through his mind. He pushed Sora away and said. "I need to pack some things in the bathroom." And he ran through the little door that led to a small bathroom they shared. He closed the door and locked it. Roxas knelt over the toilet and started throwing up. He could hear Sora and Reno's muffled voices through the door. Sora was happily talking on and on to Reno about something. Probably Twilight Town.

Roxas knelt there, heaving and crying as silently as he could over the toilet.

**Yeah... Ansem's a dick.**

**PLUTOOOO! *cries ***

Soooo yeeeeaaaaah. That's why Roxas left Axel. And why Roxas doesn't like Reno all that much. 


	14. Day One

**Sora singing.**

_Anyone who's singing, other than Sora. Also someone talking on their headset or phone._

_**More than one person singing.**_

_Cloud was standing in a living room with nothing in it but an old TV. A cartoon was playing that he was trying to understand, but they were speaking another language. He wanted to turn it off, frustrated at not being able to understand what they were saying. He hadn't even wanted to watch it in the first place. He looked around but couldn't find the remote. He walked over to the TV, only to find the TV had no buttons. The tiny cartoon figures started snickering at him. He tried to tell them to shut up, but he couldn't say a word._

_His voice was gone._

_He started to panic, the little men on the screen pointing at him as they continued to make fun of him. Cloud unplugged it, but the screen didn't go blank like it should. The cartoon people's voices started to sound familiar. He looked at them, one was blonde and the other brunet. They both had scars on their faces. Faces that look... No. He didn't know them. They started laughing even harder now. Cloud tried to shout at them, but still, no sound came out. He picked up the TV and threw it across the room. It burst into flames, the picture of the cartoon men were still visible, laughing. The whole room was filled with smoke and flames now. Cloud started to choke, falling to his knees. He felt dizzy. No one was here. No one was going to help him. He was going to die here, burnt to death by a TV with a stupid cartoon. He hadn't even wanted to watch it..._

_Suddenly he was tied up on the floor, naked and still choking from the smoke. A man with silver hair stood over him. The man was talking, telling him something but he couldn't hear him over the two men laughing. He tried to tell them to shut up, that this man was the boss and they needed to be quiet while he talked, but he was choking too much. He tried to read the man's lips. If he didn't know what the man was saying he'd be in trouble. The man was going to hurt him if he wasn't good. But he couldn't hear him! It wasn't Cloud's fault. It was those guys! They're the ones that should be punished, not him!_

_The man was on top of him now. He was yelling at him but Cloud still couldn't hear him. The man suddenly stopped. He was looking at Cloud with such hate in his eyes. Cloud tried to move away but the man was sitting on his chest. He leaned closer and whispered something in Cloud's ear. This time Cloud could finally make out what the man said._

"_Was that so hard?"_

Cloud sat bolt upright, drenched in sweat and shaking uncontrollably. He turned to see if he had woken up Leon, only to find the other man wasn't in bed. He looked at the clock and saw the alarm hadn't gone off yet. _'Which means Leon left last night, even though he said he'd stay.' _Cloud got out of bed and put pants on, still slightly shaken from the dream he'd had, even though he'd had dreams of that sort before. Every time he had one it never failed to disturb him. _''Though the cartoon's a new addition.'_ He sat on the edge of the bed and tried to gather his thoughts. Last night hadn't gone as well as he'd hoped, what with Leon's... problem. The brunet had said it wasn't his fault, but... Waking up from that dream hadn't helped anything, and now he couldn't get it out of his head. Those two cartoon people looked so familiar... Getting up he made his way to the kitchen. He heard someone talking and was surprised to find that it was Leon on the phone with someone.

"Well, the festival itself is outside, but the concert will be held inside The Coliseum." Leon paused to listen to whoever was on the other line. "The Coliseum is modeled after the coliseum in Olympus." Another pause. "You know. It's just a multipurpose event center. Yeah, on 10th. The show is going to be televised on big screen TVs out in the street for those who weren't able to get tickets." He nodded, "Yeah. And they're only playing today and Sunday. Yeah, someone else is playing the second day so they're going to be able to walk around and enjoy the festival. Though they have an interview that day, too, but that shouldn't take that long. Maybe you'll be able to meet them." He laughed at what the other person said. "Yeah, sure he is. I believe you." He chuckled then said, "Yuna should have the same schedule as them, why don't you ask her?" He sat at the table and took a drink of his coffee as he listened. "That sucks, dude. Did she say why?" He hummed and took another drink. He saw Cloud standing in the doorway and stood up. "Hey I gotta go. See ya." He hung up and smiled at the blonde. "Hey."

"Hey," said Cloud. "Who were you talking to?"

"Seifer," said Leon. "He had some questions about The Others' concert."

"Oh." said Cloud, remembering the two little cartoon men laughing, and realizing who they had been. "I... woke up and you weren't there. I thought you left."

"I made coffee... I didn't want to wake you before I had to." There was a bit of an awkward silence before he added, "Want some?"

Cloud reminded Leon that he didn't drink coffee and the brunet, in trying to make up for his momentary laps in memory- and probably for last night as well- jumped up to make tea for the other man. In doing so he managed to spill his coffee not only on himself but on Cloud and the kitchen floor. Leon had been fully dressed and therefor the coffee had merely stained his clothing, but Cloud, who only had pants on and no shirt, got burned by the hot liquid. Cloud swore and grit his teeth against the pain. Leon's eyes were as round as plates and he ran to the sink to grab the washcloth. He wiped at Cloud's chest and said he was sorry over and over again. Cloud took deep breaths and put his hand on the one of Leon's that was trying to rub away the coffee. "Just...stop." He grabbed the cloth away and sat it on the table.

"I'm sorry." Leon said again.

"I know." said Cloud. "I know. Just... go get changed, okay?" He then went into the bathroom to clean up properly.

Leon had done as Cloud said, and was now wearing faded blue jeans and a black T-shit. Waiting for Cloud to finish up in the bathroom Leon cleaned up the mess he had made in the kitchen. His mind didn't seem to be working properly as of late. Flashes of what he had done so many years ago kept jumping around in his head at random intervals; making it very hard to look Cloud in the eye at any given time. Speaking of Cloud, he was taking a curiously long amount of time to wash up in the bathroom. Deciding to check on the blonde he made his way to the bathroom and knocked on the door. Not receiving a response, he slowly opened it. "Cloud?" Cloud was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, staring at his hands and seemingly deep in thought. Leon could see the skin on his abdomen, tinted red from the burn. "Cloud?" he said again as he stepped closer.

"I had a dream about him again." He said quietly, still staring at his hands.

He didn't need to ask who 'he' was. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Asked Leon. Cloud shook his head which didn't surprise him. Cloud never wanted to talk about his dreams. "You okay?" Cloud nodded but Leon could tell something was still bothering him. "Cloud?"

The blonde hesitated before saying, "What happened last night... was it because of the thing you won't tell me?" Leon turned his head away and didn't answer. "Leon," Cloud said. Leon could hear the frustration in his voice, a hint of exhaustion mixed in. "I don't understand why touching me has suddenly become a turn-off for you, or why you can hardly look me in the eye these days, but damn it," he stood up and took the few steps that separated the two of them. "I'm trying to not let it get to me. I know this mission is important, okay, I get that," he grabbed Leon's chin and forced the brunet to look at him. "But we can't do this anymore, Leon. I miss you."

"I haven't gone anywhere." Leon said, though his voice didn't have much weight to it.

"See, that's where you're wrong." Cloud let go of Leon's chin and was glad to note the other man didn't turn away. "Whatever's bothering you," he said, leaning closer. "It's taken you from me. It's separating us, Leon. So if there's something you can't or won't to tell me, fine, that's your business." He leaned forward so their foreheads touched. "Just... don't shut me out completely, okay? I miss you."

Leon put his arm around Cloud's waist, "I'll try." The blonde smiled. "And it's not that I can't tell you," he added. "It's just... I'm afraid of what you might do once you find out."

Cloud could tell Leon really was on edge about whatever he was hiding, and it awed him to think that whatever it was, it was far more frightening to the brunet than anything they had faced in battle. Cloud decided to drop it for the time being and said, "I should get dressed." Leon seemed eased by the change of subject and nodded.

Ten minutes later they were out the door, Cloud wearing a similar attire as Leon, only his shirt was of a deep blue. When they got to the hotel, Cid and Riku were waiting in the main room while Roxas and Sora were still getting ready in the bathroom. "What's taking so long?" Leon asked, directing his question at Cid, as Riku was in the middle of texting someone.

"Hair." Grunted Cid.

"Don't they have stylists for that?"

"Apparently the only person Sora trusts t' do his hair is Roxas. Somethin' 'bout a perm gone wrong...I don't know. Seems like a whole lot o' fuss over nothin'."

Leon hummed in agreement and ignored the smirk from Cloud, who knew the brunet owned over 20 different hair product that had their very own cabinet in the bathroom. _'Curse him and his easy to manage golden locks.'_

Twenty minutes later and the group was now at a sound check for the concert. Riku was still texting away to Tifa and Yuffie. The topic: Axel and Roxas. But when he saw Cid walking towards him he quickly pocketed his phone and shot a winning smile at the older man. "What's up?"

"What's up?" Snapped Cid, severely penetrating Riku's personal bubble. "What's up is yer flailing yer G'damn fingers on yer G'damn phone instead of doing yer G'damn job."

"C'mon," said Riku, trying to be reasonable. "Look around." He gestured his hands around him, as if to indicate their setup. "Leon's standing _right_ by the band, Axel's on the balcony looking over everything, and Cloud's right behind this door, pacing the lobby." He pointed behind himself to the door he was supposed to be guarding, "Everything's covered."

"Well, in that case," said the blonde sarcastically. "Please continue. In fact, why don't you just go home for the day? Since everything's covered."

"C'mon, Cid, I didn't mean it like tha-"

"Stop apologizin'," snapped Cid. "Go upstairs and help Axel. He could use another set of eyes up there."

Sighing, Riku did as he was told. He went through the door that was behind him. Cloud spotted him and asked where he was headed. "Upstairs." He said morosely. "Cid busted me texting."

He went down a hallway and climbed the stairs and then went through another hallway. _'This place is a lot bigger than it looks.'_ he thought to himself. He finally reached the sound booth that Axel and Wakka were in. It was a relatively small room that had a window that overlooked the stage. It was full of equipment that controlled the sound and visual aspects of whatever shows were held in the coliseum.

"Hey," said Axel when Riku walked though the door. "Cid said you were heading up."

Riku nodded. Cid had obviously talked to Axel using the headsets they all wore. "Yup. So, what should I do?"

"You can go and patrol the hallways." Said Axel, turning away and looking through the window and at the stage.

"But there's so many!" protested Riku. When he only received a shrug he huffed. "Fine." Before he turned to leave he said in a mocking tone, "Have fun staring at your boyfriend." He was pleased to see Axel's ears turn pink from embarrassment.

He had paced the halls over and over again for the better part of an hour before he got bored and decided to hide out in a room close to the one Axel and Wakka were stationed in. He sat in the chair that was by the desk and spun around lazily in it. He pulled out his phone and called Tifa. They talked for about twenty minutes before his phone started beeping at him. "Damn," he muttered. He hadn't been able to charge it last night due to the fact he had forgotten to pack his charger. He then spotted a phone on the desk and mentally cheered. "Hey, T, my phone's dying. Lemme call you back? Kay, bye." He picked up the receiver and was about to dial when he noticed someone talking on the other end.

"_That's right, man."_ Said a guy with a Jamaican accent. _"I'll be outta here in a few minutes. See you then. Bye."_ They hung up and Riku could now only hear the dial tone. '_That was Wakka.'_ thought Riku. '_This phone must share the same line as the one in the sound booth.'_ Riku jumped when Axel's voice started talking to him through his headset. He scrambled to hang up the phone and push the button on his headset. "Uh, y-yeah?" he asked.

"_I said, sound check is over. You and I are going to pick up some pizzas at Pizza Planet and bring 'em back. Hurry up and meet me outside."_

"Kay." He hung up and left the room. '_Guess Tifa's gonna have to wait.'_

When he met up with Axel outside the redhead exclaimed, "You're so F-ing slow, dude. I've been waiting out here forever." Riku gave a halfhearted insult about Axel's mother and they were on their way to Pizza Planet. There were so many people around for the festival they ended up having to take side streets.

"Hey, Axel?" They were walking side by side, two blocks away from their destination.

"Hmm?"

"I talked to Tifa and Yuffie today."

"Oh really?" Axel's tone was nonchalant, but Riku could see his shoulders stiffen.

"Yeah... Look, dude, I'm sorry for making that joke earlier about Roxas being your boyfriend. If I had known you felt that way about him I wouldn't have- I mean, I _thought_ you _might_, but I-"

"It's fine."

They walked into restaurant and ordered two large pizzas, one with everything on it and one with just pepperoni. They were told it would take fifteen minutes so they sat in two plastic chairs in the corner of the place. "So," said Riku after about five minutes of silence had passed. "He just... left after you said-"

"Yeah." Said Axel, obviously uncomfortable with Riku's choice of topic.

"Want me to beat him up?"

Axel laughed then tried to stifle it. "No, dude, it's chill." they were silent for a bit, Riku finally comfortable with the silence between them. Then Axel said, "I talked to him that night Cloud and I were in the hotel room."

"Yeah?" Riku was intrigued, but tried to not sound too eager.

"Yeah." he said, picking at his fingernails. "I couldn't sleep so I went to the roof for a smoke. He was up there for some reason and he started talking to me. I didn't really want to listen so I was kinda harsh... He said he missed me and I just blew up at 'im." For once, Riku didn't interrupt. "I told him that he didn't have the _right_ to miss me." Axel shook his head, a scowl on his face. "He said that he hadn't wanted to leave. That he _had to_. Said his dad made him. How lame is that?" Their order was up, so once they collected their pizzas they left and headed back to the coliseum. "Do you think I should believe him?" Axel asked once they were a few blocks away from the pizzeria.

"I don't know, man. I'm a big fan of Ansem the Wise, so I've done some reading up on him, and I've heard that he can be pretty brutal to guys when it comes to business, but I don't know if he'd do something like that to his own son. And for no apparent reason, too. I mean, did you ever meet the guy? Did you two not get along or something?"

Axel shook his head. "No. Roxas never let me meet his family. I only saw his house twice. The first time was when I walked him home after our date and the second was when I went to look for him the next day 'cause he hadn't shown up when we were supposed to meet and his phone had been shut off."

"Well," said Riku slowly. "It might be true." Axel gestured for him to continue. "Well, you said his house was empty, right?" Axel nodded. "Well, his family had to have been in on it, then. I mean, it's not like he just decided to leave after you confessed your love. His dad and brother wouldn't have packed their bags, and the whole house, just because Roxas didn't want to see you anymore."

"I guess." Conceded Axel. "But why didn't he tell me he was moving?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was too hard for him to say goodbye to you. I mean, he loved you too, right?"

"He said he did."

"Well, there ya go." Said Riku happily.

"But," said Axel. "Why did he tell me that stuff about his dad then?"

Riku sighed. "I don't know, Axel. Maybe you should talk to him about it?"

Axel never got an opportunity to talk to Roxas, not that he was trying all that hard to find one. When they had gotten back they went to The Others' dressing room where everyone else was and ate. After that Roxas and Sora went to change their clothes and get ready for the show. Yuna and her band, The Gullwings, were playing before The Others.

"Riku, you stay by Sora. He's going to Sing with Yuna for the Gullwings' last song. Once he's on stage, you stay close by but stay out of sight from the audience. Cloud, you do the same with Roxas once Sora and Yuna's song is over. Axel's already up in the sound booth with Wakka, and Leon's talking to the other security guards." It was ten minutes until The Others were to go on and Yuna and her band were already playing. Cid was giving them a last minute reminder of what they had to do, even though they'd been over it a dozen times. Sora was bouncing on the balls of his feet, where as Roxas seemed to be glued to the spot. "You okay, kid? You seem nervous."

Roxas opened his mouth but no sound came out. Sora said, "He always gets like this before we perform."

"Hell of a career choice for someone with stage fright."

"He always snaps out of it once we're on stage. Oh, I'm on!" He did a strange flail with his arms when he heard the change of music, signaling the beginning of his and Yuna's song. He grabbed his mic from a roadie that was standing by them and he walked on stage, suddenly calm as anything.

"**I gotta be me, baby, and you gotta be you." **The crowd screamed and cheered when they recognized Sora's voice.

"_Something isn't right, but I know I love you." _Sang Yuna._ "I only want what's best."_

"**I don't know, is this some kind of test?"**

"_Yeah, and you're failing. All we do is bicker."_

"**Say goodbye."**

"_Kiss my ass, I hope you die."_

"**Wish me well."**

"_You can go to hell."_

Cid thought it was one of the strangest songs he had ever heard, yet the crowed seemed to love it, singing along with the two brunets on stage.

"**We were so different a short time ago."**

"_Love's supposed to make us happy, supposed to make us grow. But now I just wanna punch you in the face._"

"**I love you, I guess I needed some space."**

"_Oh well, another time and another place."_

"**Say goodbye."**

"_Kiss my ass, I hope you die."_

"**Wish we well."**

"_You can go to hell."_ As the song ended Sora and Yuna hugged. The crowed was once again screaming as the rest of The Others came on stage and The Gullwings left.

As Titus counted them off into their next song on the drums, out in the halls of the coliseum was Leon, patrolling the corridors. He found it funny that even if The Others hadn't come, he would still be doing the same thing right now. If Ansem hadn't specifically asked for them to watch over his sons, then Leon, as well as the rest of the committee, would be doing the ordinary security detail for the festival. It was odd how even when circumstances change, the end result is the same. He could hear in the distance the music from the concert, barely making out the lyrics.

"**Like a dream you try to remember, but it's gone. Then you try to scream but it only comes out as a yawn-"**

"Hey, Squall!" said someone from down the hall. He turned, already knowing who it was.

"Hey, Sei."

"**Pinch me. Pinch me. 'Cause I'm still asleep."**

"What 're you doing out here?" asked the blonde.

"Working," replied Leon.

"I thought you were supposed to be babysitting?"

"I am, sorta. I'm patrolling the halls, making sure no suspicious people are lurking around."

"Ya mean like me?" he asked jokingly.

"Yeah, well, you're always suspicious." He chuckled at the mock-offended expression the blonde adopted.

"Hey!" He punched him on the arm playfully. They pretended to put up their fists, ready to fight one another, laughing like little kids. "So," Seifer said, putting his hands behind his head in a relaxed position. "You talk to chocobo yet?"

"Not yet." Said Leon, beginning his patrol once more, Seifer fallowing close by. Before they got too far away from the music, they could hear a different song being played.

"**Sun goes down, sun comes up. Days can drawn in a plastic cup-"**

"You know the longer you wait, the harder it's gonna be, right?"

"I'm gonna talk to him on Sunday." Leon said. Though by the sound of his voice, Seifer knew Leon was still uncertain about it.

"It's like I told you before: he loves you. Stop worrying so much and just talk to him."

"I'm not so sure it's going to go down quite like that."

"**Every time I say what I wanna be, someone says 'that's not how it's gonna be'-"**

Upstairs Axel walked the halls that were close to the sound booth, every now and then he'd check in with Wakka, making sure everything was okay. This was one of those times. He walked in and sat down in a chair next to the orange haired man, hearing the beginning of a new song. This time Roxas started, Sora singing backup.

"_The lights are off again. She took me by surprise. She's so sensitive, and shit just happens sometimes._**"**

"How're things?" Wakka asked, his fingers floating over the board, turning knobs and sliding the faders.

"Fine. No homicidal weirdos, or kidnapping fiends yet."

Wakka chuckled. "That's good, man. Hey, could you do me a favor? Could you stand over there while you're in here?" He pointed to the back wall.

"Uh... Sure. Why?"

"Eh, well, it's just sometimes Roxas glances up here, and whenever he does and he sees you, he misses a note on the piano or his voice falters." As if to prove the man's point, Roxas glanced up and caught sight of the redhead, he did a double take and his fingers landed on the wrong keys. The blonde cringed at his mistake and quickly refocused on his task. "It would be cute, if it weren't messing with the show."

"Oh," said Axel, standing up. "Actually, I have to do another round, so..."

"Kay, see ya." Wakka said distractedly, turning a few knobs.

Axel stepped out of the room, not sure of how he felt. On one hand, a part of him was happy that he could cause the blonde to react that way, even from just a glance. But on the other hand...

"**Before you go, you outta know that I didn't mean to hurt you, I just wanted you to know."**

Fuck the other hand. He liked the way Roxas reacted. Maybe he should give him another chance...?

Riku was standing just off stage right, every now and then throwing a quick look at Paine. The girl was standing with her other band mates back stage, discussing something.

"_Black tears are fallin' and she won't say what I've done."_

The three girls seemed to finally agree on something and they started walking towards the exit. Riku sauntered over. "Hey, Paine, wait!" The girl stopped and looked at him, slightly interested.

"We'll see you there." Yuna said to Paine, then she and Rikku left.

"Are you guys sticking around after the festival's over, or are you leaving Sunday?" he asked quickly, knowing Cid could pop up at any moment and yell at him for leaving his post.

"We're leaving Tuesday." Paine replied. "Yuna wanted to stay for a few extra days."

"So you're gonna be here Monday, then? 'Cause I was wondering if you wanted to go out? There's this place in town called Mickey's. It's got-"

"I don't swing that way, honey." She said, slapping him on the shoulder playfully. "Sorry." Then she walked away.

Riku stood there, a little confused before it hit him. "Oh..." He had been turned down plenty of times before, but never by a lesbian. Usually he had excellent gaydar. _'Oh well.'_ Disappointed, he went back to his post just in time for the beginning of The Others' next song, and to see the crowd go crazy with excitement as the band started playing a song with a much more angry feel to it.

"**Show me how to lie, you're getting better all the time. And turning all against the one is an art that's hard to teach."**

Riku rather liked this song. He remembered at the first of the rehearsals Roxas saying he didn't think the song fit with the others on the setlist, but that it was Tidus' favorite song (seeing as the drummer helped write it), and so they were doing it anyway.

"**Now dance, fucker dance. Man, he never had a chance. And no one even knew, it was really only you."**

Riku could see that across the stage was Cloud, standing, like him, just out of sight from the crowd. The blonde had his arms crossed in a menacing fashion, eyes scanning whatever they could, looking for anything that would put the twins in danger. Riku could also see Cloud's foot tapping to the beat of the music, and he had to laugh. Never in his life had he seen Cloud dance, and he doubted he ever would, so he made a mental note to tease the blonde about it later.

"**With_ a thousand lies and a good disguise, _hit 'em right between the eyes. Hit 'em right between the eyes_."_**

Riku jumped slightly when he heard Cid's voice talking through his headset. _"Alright men, this is their last song. Roxas said that Sora's probably going to want to do an encore. Don't let him. We're to get them to their dressing room, and then the hotel. Got it?"_

"Got it." Said Riku. He heard the others acknowledge Cid's words as well.

"**_Clever alibis, lord of the flies. Hit 'em right between the eyes. Hit 'em right between the eyes. When you walk away, nothing more to say. See the lightning in your eyes, see 'em running for their lives."_**

As the song came to a close the crowd cheered louder then ever. "Thank you guys so much!" Sora shouted over the screams. "We'll see you Sunday!" The Others walked off stage, though Sora's walk was more of a skipping run. "Roxas!" he said excitedly. "Let's go play one more!"

"No can do," said Cloud. "You need to go change then we're heading back to the hotel. Show's over."

"Awww," whined Sora, his bottom lip jutted and his eyes big and bright. "Please?"

"No." Said Cid, walking over to them. "C'mon."

"Psh, fine." Sora said with a frown. Cid, Cloud and Riku walked with the rest of the band down a hallway back stage and into the dressing room. Tidus and Demyx were talking with Sora about how well they thought the show went. Roxas seemed to be off in his head, only giving his opinion when asked, then going back to his thoughts.

Sora and Roxas, as well as the rest of the band, changed clothes relatively fast. Tidus and Demyx said their farewells and left, bumping into Axel outside the door. "Hey, you guys were great." He said as they passed each other.

"Thanks, man." Grinned Tidus. "You on duty tonight?"

"Nope."

"Well then, after you put the kiddies to bed, you should stop by our hotel. We're planning on getting wasted and watch awful horror flicks."

"Uh, sure." He shrugged. "Where you stayin'?"

"Highwind. Room four." Tidus said, his smile growing wider as he and Demyx walked away.

"Roxas is going to kill you." Demyx said to Tidus once they were out of earshot.

The blonde chuckled. "I'll risk it."

An hour later Axel was in room four of the Highwind hotel. He had escorted the rest of the group to room thirteen then left. Leon and Cloud were going to be watching the twins tonight.

About twenty minutes after he had got there- and about five shots in- Demyx announced he was going to go see Yuna, and he left them watching "When Shadows Attack."

Fifteen minutes later~

"Stop," Axel mumbled, eyes closed, wanting to give in to the feeling of warmth the body sitting on his lap provided. "Stop." he said again, this time opening his eyes and pushing on the blonde's chest.

"Why?" Asked Tidus. "Is it because of Roxas?" Axel looked away. Tidus could see the muscles in the redhead's jaw flex. "You know you're never going to get him, right?"

"What makes you so sure?" Axel shot the blonde a dirty look.

"His dad." said Tidus, fighting back a smirk at the confused look on Axel's face. "I'm sure Roxas has told you at least a bit of what his father's like. The guy's a total douche. And Roxas is scared shitless of the man. There's no way he'll disobey him."

"And in what way would being with me be disobeying him?"

Tidus laughed. "Ansem told him to stay away from you or he'd have some pretty nasty things done to you."

"How do you know?"

"Roxas got drunk one time and rambled on and on about it." Tidus snickered at Axel's face again. "Honestly, I'm a bit surprised he hasn't told you. Then again, he's probably worried you'd think he was crazy."

"Get up," Axel said, trying to stand but Tidus wouldn't move.

"What if I don't? What if," he leaned in close and whispered in the redhead's ear, "I do this?" He slowly moved his hips in a circular motion, creating a wonderful friction between the lower halves of their bodies.

"Get. Up." He said again, trying to ignore his body saying _"C'mon. It's not that big a deal. Just let him do what he wants. It'll feel good."_

"We don't have to tell Roxas." said Tidus in what the blonde obviously thought was a seductive voice. "It'll be our secret."

Axel shoved Tidus back and stood up, the blonde falling to the floor with a thud. "Fuck you."

Tidus laughed despite the fact he was now sprawled on the floor. "That was kinda the whole point."

Axel made a disgusted noise and stepped over him and to the door, opening it a bit more aggressively then was strictly necessary, and slammed it in much the same way. He ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath. Looking down he noticed his belt was undone. _'When did that happen?'_ As he fastened it the door he had just shut opened and Tidus walked out.

"You forgot your phone." He said with a smirk. Axel grabbed it and shoved it in his pocket. Then he noticed Tidus wasn't looking at him anymore, but at something behind the redhead. Axel turned around and swore. Roxas was standing at the end of the hall, his bright blue eyes showing confusion, anger and hurt. Then the blonde blinked, turned and started walking down the hall and around the corner. "Shit." The redhead said again, hurrying down the hall, grabbing Roxas' shoulder before the boy could press the button to call the elevator. "Roxas." The blonde didn't turn around. "It's not what it looked like."

"It's fine." Roxas said quietly, freeing his arm and pushing the 'up' button. "You don't have to explain."

"Nothing happened." Axel went on. "I mean, he tried, but nothing happened."

"It's fine," he said again. "You're free to do whatever you want with whoever you want." The elevator dinged and opened its doors, and Roxas stepped inside.

"But I don't want-" He stepped inside as well, looking to the ceiling, as if the words he wanted to speak would magically appear there. "Truth is, I haven't... since you left, I haven't really... With anyone."

There was a strange silence, not exactly awkward, but definitely not comfortable. Then Roxas said, "Oh."

"And I'm sorry about the other night. I shouldn't have acted like that. I just-" The elevator dinged again and the doors opened, both males stepping out. "Hearing you say you missed me... I guess I didn't really believe you."

"I really did, though." Roxas said. They were now standing outside room thirteen. "I still miss you."

"I miss you, too." Axel said, leaning down slightly for a kiss.

Roxas pulled away. "I don't want to get you hurt." he said, his voice strained.

"I don't mind." was his whispered reply.

**FUFUFUFUFU. :3 They get some kisses in before Leon catches them and makes Roxas go to bed.**

**I feel like this chapter's all choppy and blah =/ But ooooh well =] Let me know what you think~ I love hearing from you guys.**

**Songs were as follows:**

**Wish me well – The Bouncing Souls**

**Pinch me - Barenaked Ladies**

**The Faster the Treadmill – I Fight Dragons**

**Losing Lisa – Ben Folds**

**You're gonna go far, kid – The offspring**

**Pizza Planet is from Toy Story.**


	15. Cloud and Sephiroth

**This chapter is a little weird. And... Graphic? Those who are easily offended and/or squeamish probably should skip it. **

**This was originally going to be chapter 17, but I decided to just put it up now. I think you guys have waited long enough for this.**

Sephiroth was taking a business trip and would be gone for a week. He often went on these trips and never took Cloud with him. Cloud decided these times were an excellent opportunity to spend time with Leon. He and the brunet had grown close over the past two years. Sephiroth had grown quite jealous, more so than usual, and had forbidden Cloud from seeing him.

But what Sephiroth didn't know, wouldn't hurt him, right?

Right?

They had gone to lunch, seen movies, went hiking. Leon had even helped the blonde with yard work. The week flew by so fast. Before they knew it their time was up. Sephiroth would be returning the next day at six in the morning. And that would be that. No more seeing each other.

The night before he was to return they went out to dinner. Leon walked Cloud home, bidding him goodnight and goodbye with a hug. When Cloud walked through the door he noticed a suitcase in the hall. He froze. That must mean...

"Hello, honey, I'm home." said a voice from the shadows. A light clicked on and there he was, Sephiroth, sitting in an armchair in the living room. "I trust you've been good in my absence."

"Sephiroth," said Cloud, still standing in the hallway.

"Why, if I didn't know any better," said the older man in a dangerous voice. "I'd say you weren't happy to see me." Cloud shook his head, still standing there. "Well then, come over here and give me a welcome home kiss." As Cloud slowly walked over, the man stood up. Cloud leaned in to give a quick kiss and Sephiroth grabbed him by the shoulders and deepened it. Cloud winced as Sephiroth pulled back, biting the blonde's lip as he went. "It seems you've forgotten that you are mine." Sephiroth pushed him away hard and the blonde fell over the coffee table and landed sprawled on the floor.

"What are you talking about?" asked Cloud from the floor. He made a move to get up, but was then kicked.

"You've been fucking that Lionheart, haven't you?" He kicked him in the side. "You think I wouldn't have someone watch you while I'm away?" He kicked him again. "You filthy whore." Another kick. "You are mine." He kicked him three more times before he said, "He will never have you."

Sephiroth left the room only to return with an arm full of things. Cloud coughed and flecks of blood landed on the floor. "I didn't," he said, trying to get up again. "I swear, I didn't."

Sephiroth dumped the things on the floor then bent down and pulled the younger man up by his hair. "I think you need to be shown your place."

"Please, Seph. Please I didn't, I swea-" Sephiroth slapped him and grabbed some rope off the floor, one of the things he had carried in. He tied the blonde's hands then began to undress his lower half. "Seph, please," he bagged, trying to wiggle away. "Please, don't. Please." Sephiroth grabbed the man's head and slammed it back down. Cloud cried out in pain but Sephiroth ignored him and continued striping Cloud of his pants.

Sephiroth pulled his head back up by his ear. "You will never escape me," he whispered. He then grabbed a bottle of lighter fluid and stood up, pouring it around the room. "I've given you everything," he said, now unbuttoning his shirt. "I gave you a home. I took care of you after your stay in the hospital. I took you traveling. We saw so many places together, Cloud. Do you remember?" he walked back over to the blonde, kicking him one last time. "I loved you, Cloud." He said undoing his pants. "But you betrayed me." He sat down between the other man's legs and spreading them apart so he could position himself at the man's entrance. "And I don't think I can forgive you." He plunged in without warning. The Blonde screamed.

The pain was like nothing he'd ever experienced. He and Sephiroth had had sex without prep before, Sephiroth preferred it that way, but this, this was different. This was rape and it hurt worse than anything he could have imagined. "Please," he sobbed. "Please, stop."

"I loved you," The silver haired man said. Every word punctuated with a thrust. "You slut," he said, slapping Cloud's face. "How many others were there?" He slapped him again. Then slaps turned into punches. "You are nothing but a whore. You are nothing, and thanks to you we're both going to die here." He grabbed a lighter lying by them on the floor and turned back to Cloud with an insane grin on his face. "Together." Then he lit the puddle of gas. In moments the room was burning. Sephiroth continued his assault on Cloud. Sobs of anguish, maniacal laughter and smoke filled the air. Sephiroth relieved himself within the blonde but instead of pulling out he stayed there, panting and laughing as their house burned down and Cloud cried beneath him. He reached across the floor to grab the last thing he had brought into the room. A gun. He turned the safety off and held it to Cloud's head. "Tell me you're sorry." He demanded. All laughter gone now.

Cloud continued to sob uncontrollably. He finally managed to say, "I didn't sleep with him," before his body was taken over once again by shuddering waves of tears.

Sephiroth growled and hit Cloud over the head with the gun. "Say it!" he shouted.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry," he said shakily.

This calmed Sephiroth. He leaned down to kiss him, but before he did he whispered, "Now, was that so hard?"

BANG!

With his lips still held to Cloud's, Sephiroth shot himself in the head.

Cloud lie there in a pool of blood, shaking and sobbing, his boyfriend's dead body lying limp on top of his own.

The fire trucks and ambulances arrived five minutes after that. He was rushed to the hospital where he was in intensive care for over a week. Leon stayed with him throughout the whole thing. Cloud was released a month later and moved into Leon's apartment, seeing as his house was now burned. A year passed and they bought a house together as a couple. Though the blonde is very happy in his relationship with Leon, he still suffers from extreme pyrophobia.

They would later find out that those business trips Sephiroth had so many of weren't business trips at all, but instead were medical related. The silver haired man was under the care of a number of neurologists, psychologists and other doctors in the brain department. Sephiroth had been slowly losing his mind for years, and only his well known and respected name had been keeping him out of the mental hospital. The man Sephiroth had watching over Cloud whenever he went away had told him of the blonde's blossoming friendship with Leon, that coupled with the bad news he had gotten from his doctors, news that he was being sent away for treatment, had sent him over the edge.

**Let me know what you think?**

**3**


	16. Day Two Part One

The next morning was a relatively slow one. They slept in till nine, went to breakfast at Big Al's Breakfast Barn where the group, consisting of Sora, Roxas, Leon and Cloud, meet up with Axel, Riku and Cid. Then they all walked along service streets to get to the Coliseum, where The Others would be having an interview with a seventeen-year-old girl.

A bit of back story on this girl is as follows: She has shoulder length reddish-brown hair, blue eyes and goes by the name of Kairi. Though originally from Hollow Bastion, at the age of six she was sent to live with her aunt and uncle on Destiny Islands. One month and two weeks ago Kairi entered a contest for the chance to win the opportunity to meet one of her favorite bands, as well as ask them three questions.

Now she sits in The Others' dressing room, the winner of said contest. She has prepared three questions to ask, with the help of her friends back home.

Roxas and Sora were sitting in the dressing room as well, their guards standing around the room, seemingly at ease. Riku had been given the job of holding the girl's camera, recording this memorable moment for the girl to post on her many blogging sites once she got home.

She took a deep breath, trying and failing to fight back the huge grin on her face so she could ask the first question. "How did you come up with the name 'The Others'?"

Sora smiled warmly at the over-excited girl, "Our dad. Ever since we were little he would tell us that we were each others other. Two halves of a whole, ya know? He always said that it was important to stick together. So when we said we were starting a band together he was really supportive."

"Cool," she beamed. "Okay, um," she looked at the piece of paper in her hand which she had written her questions down on. "Your eighteenth birthday is the last day of the festival. Do you have anything special planned?"

"Not really," said Sora. "We're leaving early Monday morning, so no drinking ourselves into nothingness." Kairi and Sora laughed. Roxas smirked and rolled his eyes. "We'll probably just have a small after party with Demyx and Titus and a few other people. Very casual."

"That sounds fun." She said, looking to her piece of paper again. "Are either of you seeing anyone?" She asked her last question with a light blush to her cheeks.

Roxas shook his head but Sora smiled. "Weeeell... kinda," said the brunet. Roxas glanced over at his brother, slightly confused.

"Care to say more?" asked Kairi eagerly.

"Haha I'm afraid you've already used up your three questions." Said Sora with a grin.

Kairi soon left the dressing room, escorted by Leon and Cloud, leaving Riku, Cid, Sora and Roxas. Cid was talking to someone over his headset as Roxas whispered to Sora, "Since when are you seeing someone?" Sora was about to answer when Cid interrupted.

"Roxas, your father is on the phone for you. You can talk to him in the sound booth."

"I'll take him." said Riku, hoping that he'd be able to talk to the blonde on the way. They walked down hallways and up a flight of stairs then down another hallway to the small room that overlooked the stage. "So, Sora seemed to really light up during that interview." Roxas gave a non committal hum and Riku continued. "You seemed kinda quiet, though."

The blonde didn't answer right away. Riku began to wonder whether Roxas had heard him or not, then; "Yeah, well, he's always been better at that kinda thing." Roxas said with a shrug.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... He's just better with people than I am. And he wants this more than me."

"You don't want to be in The Others?" Riku probed.

"It's not that. I just... I don't know. He's the one who wanted to start the band. And for a while it was great... But now... I'm just kinda... Over it, ya know?"

"Have you talked to Sora about it?" Riku asked. He thought to himself why Roxas was opening up to him so easily, but didn't want to voice this question for fear he might jinx it.

"No. He loves the band." Roxas said with a sigh.

"So you're just gonna stick with it? Even though you don't want to?"

"Sora loves the band. I love Sora." Roxas said simply. "You do whatever you can for the people you love."

When they walked in the room Roxas went over to the phone and picked it up "Hello?"

"_Ah, Roxas."_ Riku heard Ansem say over the line. _"Is there anyone in the room with you?"_

Roxas' eyes flickered toward Riku. "Yes."

"_A conversation between a father and son should be private, don't you think?"_

Roxas hesitated for a moment before turning to Riku and asking him to leave. Riku was annoyed but let him have his privacy. That was until he remembered there was a phone in an office two doors down that was on the same line. _'Hehehe.'_ He all but ran to the room and picked up the phone.

"_And how is the festival going?"_ Ansem asked.

"_Fine." _Replied Roxas in a stiff tone.

Ansem chuckled. _"Wonderful. And how is Axel doing?"_

Riku could almost make out Roxas gritting his teeth. _"Fine."_

"_I see,"_ said Ansem. _"So, you've spoken to him?" _Riku heard a sharp intake of breath, possibly from Roxas. _"I thought I had made it clear you were not to have contact with Mr. Flynn."_ Said his father in a disappointed tone. _"Perhaps you need another one of my demonstrations? I had hoped the one with Pluto would suffice..."_

"_Dad I..."_ Roxas stuttered. _"I- I didn't mean-"_

"_The deal was, you were allowed to do the show for the festival, so long as you stayed away from Axel Flynn." _said Ansem, a slight edge to his voice.

"_I know,"_ said Roxas. Was that panic Riku heard?_ "But he's one of my guards, it's hard not to-"_

"_You were aware he would be in the city."_

"_Yes, but I didn't know I'd have to see him everyday."_

"_How do you expect to survive in the world if you are unable to adapt to unexpected events?"_

"_I'm sorry."_ Roxas said in a small voice. _"Please..."_

Ansem tsked. _"Don't worry, son. You won't be punished and neither will he... _if _you agree to something."_

"_What is it?" _Roxas asked after a slight hesitation.

"_The Snow family has a daughter, and she-"_

Before Riku was able to hear the rest, someone walked into the room. "What are you doing in here?" It was a man wearing a tan jumpsuit with the Coliseums logo on it. A janitor here to collect the trash.

"Um... Nothing?" Riku laughed nervously. "I'll just... bye." he slipped past the man and out the door. He quickly walked down the hall without looking back, now standing outside the door Roxas was behind, still on the phone with his father. It only took a few minutes for the blonde to finish his phone call. When he walked out of the room he looked a little shaken. "You okay?"

Roxas glared at him. "Let's go."

_'Right.'_ They headed back to the dressing room to get Sora so they could go back to the hotel. Riku wasn't sure what to make of the phone call he had eavesdropped on. He used to admire Ansem The Wise, but now...

"So," said Riku awkwardly. He hated the silence between them. 'M_ust say something. Must say something.'_ "Your brother's seeing someone, eh? Girl back home?"

"No," said Roxas in an annoyed voice. "Sora's gay. We both are."

"Oh," said Riku, even more awkward than before. "So I guess you guys have a lot in common with Paine, then?"

"What?" Roxas looked confused and annoyed.

"Ya know," he said. "She's gay."

"Paine's not gay." said Roxas.

"Yeah, she is." Riku argued. "I asked her out and she said, 'I don't swing that way.' Why would she say that if she wasn't into women?"

Roxas snorted. "Dude, she's not gay. She probably said that 'cause you look like a girl."

"I do not!" Said Riku, offended.

"Yeah," said Roxas. "You do. You need to cut your hair."

Riku glared and crossed his arms. "Axel has long hair." he muttered, reaching up and touching his hair defensively. They walked the rest of the way in silence.

Cid was standing outside the dressing room door. As the two walked over to him he noticed Riku patting his hair. "Quit playin' with yer hair, ya girl."

"I'm not." he said, his hand dropping to his side quickly. "Is Sora ready?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

"He's talking to Rikku," Cid said. "They should be done by now."

He opened the door and there sat Sora with Rikku on his lap, swapping saliva. Cid looked annoyed and impatient. Roxas looked shocked and Riku burst out laughing. "I guess he's not as gay as you thought."

The couple pulled apart and Rikku jumped up. "Hey guys," she said, laughing nervously. "I'm... Gonna go." She grabbed her jacket and left.

"C'mon," Cid said to Sora. "Grab your stuff, let's go."

Riku walked into the hotel room with Cid and the twins. Cloud and Leon were already there, Cloud looking pissed and Leon looking as if he were under quite a bit of pressure. _'Guess they're fighting again,' _thought Riku. He was glad he was going to be here with Axel tonight for three reasons. Reason one being he would be able to see this fight between Leon and Cloud, and reason two being he would be able to see Roxas and Sora fight. And reason three: He would be able to see Roxas and Axel interact.

Oh, how he loved drama.

"They're all yours," said Cid. "Good luck. Axel said he'd be here soon. Leon," he said to the brunet. "Would you mind staying till he gets here?" When Leon shook his head Cid nodded and left, Riku staying behind.

Cloud was standing in the doorway that led to the other room and Leon was standing in the main room looking from one twin to the other. "You guys okay?" he asked.

"Fine." Snapped Roxas, never taking his eyes off Sora.

"Leon," said Cloud in a voice Roxas recognized. His father used it often. It meant: you-know-what-I-want-don't-make-me-have-to-say-it-or-else.

Leon sighed. "Well, we'll be in here if you need us. Let us know when Axel gets here." He followed Cloud into the other room and closed the door.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the air now. "Would you mind stepping out, Riku?" said Roxas, crossing his arms and still not looking away from his brother.

"I really shouldn't," said the older boy. "If something were to happen-"

"No one's going to jump from the closet, or climb through the window to kidnap us." He said annoyed. "And if they do, I promise I'll scream as loud as I can." He added sarcastically.

Riku breathed angrily. "Fine." He stepped out, leaving the two boys alone.

"Well?" said Roxas.

"What?" asked Sora, apparently oblivious to the fact that his twin was incredibly pissed. So much for that famous twin connection everyone talks about.

"You were making out with a girl, Sora."

"Oh... Yeah, I guess I'm not gay anymore." He took off his shirt and looked around for a clean one.

"What do you mean, you're not gay anymore?" Roxas asked incredulously.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I guess I never really was. I mean I never even kissed a guy." Sora said nonchalantly. "Anyway, yeah, so Rikku and I-"

"Are you kidding me?" Roxas said angrily. "You couldn't have figured this out a year ago?" At Sora's confused look Roxas continued. "Do you not remember when I told you I was gay? That I had met someone I liked?" Sora still looked puzzled as to why Roxas was so angry. "I told you I was gay and you decided that you wanted to try it out. I wanted to hold off on telling dad until you were sure but you wanted to talk to him about it."

"So?"

"So?" Roxas echoed. He gave a half crazed laugh and then he shouted, "SO?" He couldn't believe this. Did Sora not realize how much Roxas had gone through, just because Sora had told their dad he was gay? Did he not understand just how much Roxas had had to give up? "What happened when we told dad that we were both gay? What did he say, Sora?"

"Uh..."

"What did he say?" Roxas asked through clenched teeth.

"That only one of us could be-"

"And which one of us did he choose?"

"H-he... "

"Which. One. Did. He. Choose?**" **The blonde's voice was dangerously low.

"M-me," Sora stuttered. "But-"

"That's right. He picked you. I already had someone I liked and yet he picked you. He said since you were technically the oldest, you got to have the freedom." Roxas' fists were clenched, his voice drenched in loathing. "Even though _I _was the one who already had someone. But he still picked you. Like always."

"What do you mean, 'like always'?"

Roxas gave a humorless laugh. "God, Sora! How can you be so dense?"

"I'm not!" Said Sora defensively. "So he favors me a bit some times, so what? It's not like he hates you."

"Are you kidding me? Of course he does. He's always hated me."

"No he doesn't. How could he?"

"I don't know!" He said, throwing his hands in the air. "Maybe it's 'cause I don't look like mom. Maybe it's 'cause I'm the one that killed her."

"You didn't kill her, Roxas." Sora said in a small, angry voice. He wanted Roxas to stop this. To stop talking about their father like he was some mean old man out to ruin his brother's life.

"It's what he said. Ever since we were little he's said it. And hell, it's true. She was doing fine after you were born but then her body couldn't take the strain of giving birth to me."

"Shut up, Roxas." Sora said angrily. "He would never say that."

Roxas scoffed. "Maybe not to you. You're his little _angel._" He said the last word in a mocking voice. Their father used to call Sora his little angel and the brunet always hated it. It was the only thing he didn't like about their father.

"Shut up," he said again. This time much more quietly. He was still angry and he wanted Roxas to stop, but he was losing his steam. He could never fight for that long. He hated confrontation and he hated fighting with his brother. And he especially hated fighting about their father.

"No matter what I did, he always favored you. Every fucking time." Roxas' voice shook with anger.

"That's not true."

"Oh, really? What about when we were eight and it was raining and we started playing in the mud. What happened, Sora?"

"We got in trouble-"

"No! _I _got in trouble. You got off Scott free. And what about when we were ten? I asked for a red racing bike for Christmas. What did I get?"

"Y-you... I don't remember-"

"I got a book on the fucking stock market. And what did you get?"

"I don't know, Roxas. It was a long time ag-"

"A RED FUCKING RACING BIKE!"

"W-well that's no-"

"God, I hate you! I have given up so much for you. I lost Axel. I lost Pluto. And now I'm to be engaged to some girl I don't even know. And you have the _audacity_ to decide you're not gay anymore? After all that? After everything I've had to give up?"

"How is any of that my fault?" Asked Sora. "Since when are you engaged? And Pluto was hit by a car, Rox-"

Roxas laughed bitterly. "No, he wasn't. I didn't stop seeing Axel, so Dad had Pluto killed. Right in front of me, actually. Did you know that?" Sora looked at him like he had lost his mind. And hell, maybe he had. "And do you know why I had to stop seeing Axel? Because _you_ decided you wanted to be gay. But hey," he said sarcastically. "You're not gay anymore. So it's okay. And yeah, I'm engaged. Wanna know why?" He took a step toward his brother. "Because I talked to Axel. And Dad doesn't like when I break the rules, so he said that Axel would be safe if I agreed to marry one of his rich friend's daughters." He took another step. "So now I'm engaged. Haven't set a date yet, but I'll be sure to send you an invitation." They hadn't noticed Cloud opening the door and coming into the room.

"Roxas," said the brunet, tears now leaking from his eyes. "I..."

"No. Fuck you. Fuck you, fuck this family, and fuck this stupid festival that I didn't even want to come to. I'm done." With that, he stormed out the door.

"Shit," said Cloud. He couldn't leave Sora alone but someone needed to go after Roxas. He pushed the button on his headset, "Leon?"

"_Already on it."_ Riku's voice answered.

Leon didn't have his headset on it seemed.

Riku ran after the blonde boy out of the hotel and through the streets. It was made extremely difficult by the crowd of people still outside. The festival was shutting down for the night and everyone was heading back to their homes and hotel rooms. He lost sight of the boy around the bailey. "Shit." He held down the button on his headset. "Cloud, I lost him."

"_Shit."_

"I'm going to call Cid and get a search party going. Is Axel there yet?"

"_Okay. Yeah he got here a minute ago. I'm going to call Vincent and see if he'll help."_

"Good idea." Said Riku. If anyone could find Roxas it was that weirdo.

Once he had left the hotel room Roxas had started running like he'd never run before. And he continued to run till he reached the bailey. He was out of breath and his side hurt so he sat down, leaning up against one of the cement walls surrounding the inclosure. As he sat there breathing heavily he spotted two paths leading away from the rest of the city. He remembered Cid saying that the right path led to a computer lab, and that the left led to a place called the Great Maw. He decided he didn't want to go see some room full of nerds in white coats, so he stood up and took the path to the left.

Roxas sat on the edge of the cliff, his feet dangling over. He'd been sitting there for over an hour and now the sun was setting.

"You really shouldn't be out this late, young one." Came a voice from the shadows.

Roxas jerked his head around to see a man stepping out of the darkness. "Who are you?" he asked. Luckily his voice didn't show how scared he was. Stories involving a strange man looming in the shadows rarely end well.

The man walked over to stand above Roxas. "I am Vincent Valentine." He gave a slight bow.

"I've heard of you," said Roxas, his shoulders relaxing a bit. "Leon and Cloud have talked about you."

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "And what have they said?"

"Cloud said you're loyal and that you're a good shot with a pistol."

"And what of Mr. Lionheart?"

"He said you're weird," Roxas said bluntly.

Vincent gave a slight chuckle and smirked. "I cannot argue with either of those statements." He sat down next to Roxas. "My first remark still holds true; you really shouldn't be out at this hour."

Roxas snorted and looked away. "I can do whatever I want. I'll be eighteen tomorrow."

"That may very well be," said Vincent, his eerily red eyes boring into the back of Roxas' head. "But tonight you are still a minor. And even if you were not, unstable people tend to crawl out of their hiding spots at night." He grinned. "Believe me, I would know."

Roxas eyed him uneasily.

Another hour passed and without Roxas realizing it, he and Vincent were in a deep conversation. Roxas doing most of the talking. Later he would blame his openness on the man's crazy red eyes. He would claim they must have magical qualities. There just was no other explanation.

The conversation started with talking about The Great Maw. Vincent explained that it basically was a gigantic crater left behind from the war that had destroyed most of the city. No one knew exactly how it had happened. Some say it was a bomb, others say that there had been too much magic used in one place and the build-up had caused the explosion. Either way, the blast claimed the lives of over half the people there. The war ended soon after that. The enemy had lost just enough in that mess to get scared. After that a treaty was singed and that was the end of that. That was back when the city was still named Radiant Garden.

"Radiant Garden... That's the name of the festival, isn't it?" Asked Roxas.

"Yes. The festival is a celebration of the end of the war. And to remember those that died." Vincent said in his calming voice.

They were now talking about Roxas. Of his longing to be out from under his father's control. His plan to leave the band and move as far away as possible once the festival was over and he was eighteen. His fear of what might happen to Axel if he were to leave. And his uncertainty of what Axel might say if he tried to talk to the red head about any of this.

"Now I'm engaged and I don't know what to do." said Roxas, his voice not hiding any of the fear and heartbreak he was feeling.

"Why do you let him control you?" Asked Vincent, in regard to Ansem.

"If I don't stay away from Axel, my dad will have him killed."

"Why is it so important to your father that you stay away from Axel?"

Roxas snorted. "Because Axel's a guy. And I'm not _allowed_ to be gay."

"Sora is gay."

"Exactly. Only one of us is allowed to be. The other one, me, has to get married and have kids so my father can rest easy knowing the family name will go on."

"Well, Axel is extremely capable of taking care of himself. And now Sora has a girlfriend, which would put him in the running for giving your father a grandchild." Vincent said.

"I'm sure my father will find a way to keep me away from Axel. Some reason why I still need to marry Omelet. Or was her name Ollete?"

"Are you unwilling to try?" Vincent asked. When Roxas remained silent he went on. "Axel still cares for you. Will you not try to be with him?"

"I'm just... scared," Roxas admitted. "When it all boils down, I'm just scared. I'm scared of my father and I'm scared that Axel won't want me and I'm scared of losing Sora."

"May I give you some advice?" Roxas nodded. "Talk to Sora and tell him what your father has done." Roxas opened his mouth to argue but Vincent kept talking. "Then talk to Axel. Explain as best you can to him."

"And what about my dad?"

"First, talk to Sora and Axel. Then worry about your father."

Unbeknownst to Roxas, there were other conversations taking place at the same time his and Vincent's was occurring.

One of which was between Riku, Tifa and Yuffie.

Riku had run into them while he was looking for Roxas. He told them about Roxas running away, telling them about the snippets of the twins' fight he was able to hear through the door to their room. And telling them about the phone call between Ansem and Roxas he had eavesdropped on earlier that day.

In turn they told him about the talk they had had with Axel in the pub.

They decide to regroup with the rest of the team at the hotel.

Cloud called Vincent and told him what had happened, asking him to look for Roxas. He called Leon, hoping the brunet would be able to find him if Vincent wasn't able to. He then called Cid. Cid had made his way to the hotel the moment Cloud called him to tell him Roxas had run away. When the older blonde arrived Cloud started filling him in about the fight between Roxas and Sora. They tried to get more information out of Sora but it was difficult to decipher the words between the sobs.

Cloud and Cid talked about Cid's time as Ansem's head of security. Though hesitant at first, Cid admits there were less than honorable goings on at the Company. It had been many years ago, but Cid said that if anything has changed, he doubts it was for the better.

"Do we have any idea of where he might have gone?" Asked Axel.

"No, but we have Leon and Vincent out looking for him right now. Riku's on his way back. Once he get's here I'm going to head out as well. We have the city's main security guarding all ways in and out of town, just in case." Said Cloud.

"Good. I should go too." Said Axel, preparing to leave.

"Someone needs to stay here with Sora." Said Cloud.

"What about Cid?" Asked Axel.

"He needs to stay in touch with the city's guards."

"What about Riku?" Axel asked, annoyed at the time lost just by having this conversation.

"He will be heading out to meet up with Demyx and Titus, just in case Roxas goes to them."

Axel git his teeth. "Or," he said, careful of the words he was about to say. "He could stay here and I could go meet up with them."

"Axel," Said Cid. "Enough arguing."

"But-"

"No buts. The truth is you have an emotional attachment to the kid and we can't risk you messing anything up."

"What am I going to mess up? So what if I have an attachment to him? Wouldn't that mean I'd want to find him _more_ than anyone else?" Cloud and Cid exchanged a look. "What?" The redhead nearly shouted.

"We need to get him back here, Axel."

"And you don't think I can do that?"

"I think he might persuade you into letting him go." Said Cloud calmly.

"That's bull." Said Axel angrily.

"Tough." Said Cid.

The two glared at each other until Riku walked through the door, followed by Tifa and Yuffie.

After discussing the plan of having Cloud go out into the city and having Riku go meet up with Tidus and Demyx, Riku tells them about the phone call he had _accidentally_ overheard between Roxas and Ansem.

Once Cloud and Riku had left the hotel, Cid went into the other room to set up communication with the city guards.

Sora had calmed down significantly by this point and was now sitting on one of the beds while Axel sat on the other one.

Axel was still angry about not being able to look for Roxas himself. He decided to try to talk to Sora about his brother, still not entirely sure he believed the whole story. "So... Do you think Roxas could be telling the truth about... everything?"

Sora didn't answer immediately, avoiding the red head's gaze by looking out the window. "Roxas never lies... It's just hard to believe, y'know?" He said slowly. "At school I used to get teased a lot, then Roxas found out... He was bumped up a grade a few years ago so we didn't see each other that much at school. But he found out I was being bullied... He started getting in fights with the guys that were picking on me... He also started getting D's so they held him back. We were in the same grade again. He never said, but I knew he did it for me."

"What did your dad do when Roxas did all that?"

"He was mad I guess. I don't really know..." He thought for a few moments, then; "Roxas did seem kinda weird for a few weeks after that. I just thought he was upset about being held back, but maybe..." he trailed off.

They didn't say much after that. Sora occasionally would start to cry again and Axel would try to calm him down, but other than that, they both just waited for any word on Roxas' whereabouts.

If what Roxas claimed to have happen did in fact take place, without solid proof, not much could be done.

"I should be going." Says Vincent. The sun had set quite a while ago, and there was a distinct chill in the air. "Would you like me to escort you back to the hotel?" Roxas didn't answer, still looking out at the giant canyon. "The path back down to the bailey can be quite treacherous at night."

In the end Roxas agreed to go with Vincent. As they made their way down the winding road they heard a noise. Roxas gave a start and then froze, while Vincent stopped and smiled. "Hello, Leon."

Leon came around the corner, saw Roxas, and then glared at Vincent. "Why didn't you tell someone you found him? We've been searching for hours."

"I was not told to inform someone in the event that I found the boy."

Leon grit his teeth. "Of course you're supposed to tell someone. Why else would we have asked you to look for him?"

Vincent gave a slight shrug. "Would you like to accompany us on our why back to the hotel?"

Leon pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Sure." He said. "I'll call Cloud on the way."

"Excellent." he said with a grin that showed far too many teeth. He turned to address Roxas. "Shall we?" Roxas gave a nod, looking between both men. Leon, clearly trying not to shout at the raven haired man, and Vincent, clearly ignoring him.

As they began descending, Leon pulled his phone out and dialed Cloud's number. He was telling Cloud that they had found Roxas and were heading back, when he heard something behind them. When he turned to look his heart sank. "Oh, fuck," he muttered just before he dropped the phone and grabbed Roxas.

"_Leon? Leon, what happened?"_ Cloud's voice came through the phone's speaker in crackling tones. The phone itself was under a pile of rocks. As was it's owner.

**FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU-**

**I shortened a lot of the dialogue as you might be able to tell. It's kinda choppy but what the hey. I'm trying to finish up the last few chapters as fast as I can, so they may not be all that good. :/ **

**Lol Vincent seems to be the one everybody likes to tell their troubles to. It's his crazy albino/voodoo/vampire pawers. *nods ***

Big Al's Breakfast Barn - Big Al's from Toy Story 2.


	17. Day Two Party Two

The next morning was a relatively slow one. They slept in till nine, went to breakfast at Big Al's Breakfast Barn where the group, consisting of Sora, Roxas, Leon and Cloud, meet up with Axel, Riku and Cid. Then they all walked along service streets to get to the Coliseum, where The Others would be having an interview with a girl named Kiari.

Kiari had gotten first place in a contest and the prize she won was the chance to ask Sora and Roxas three questions. She sat in the dressing room with Roxas and Sora, visibly nervous. The two boy's guards were standing around the room, seemingly at ease. Riku had been given the job of holding the girl's camera, recording this memorable moment for the girl to post on her many blogging sites once she got home.

She took a deep breath, trying and failing to fight back the huge grin on her face so she could ask the first question. "How did you come up with the name 'The Others'?"

Sora smiled warmly at the over-excited girl "Our dad. Ever since we were little he would tell us that we were each others other. Two halves of a whole, ya know? He always said that it was important to stick together. So when we said we were starting a band together he was really supportive."

"Cool." she beamed. "Okay, um," she looked at the piece of paper in her hand which she had written her questions down. "Your eighteenth birthday is the last day of the festival. Do you have anything special planned?"

"Not really." said Sora. "We're leaving early Monday morning, so no drinking ourselves into nothingness." Kairi and Sora laughed. Roxas smirked and rolled his eyes. "We'll probably just have a small after party with Demyx and Titus and a few other people. Very casual."

"That sounds fun." She said, looking to her piece of paper again. "Are either of you seeing anyone?" She asked he last question with a light blush to her cheeks.

Roxas shook his head but Sora smiled. "Weeeell... kinda." said the brunet. Roxas glanced over at his brother, slightly confused.

"Care to say more?" asked Kairi eagerly.

"Haha I'm afraid you've already used up your three questions." Said Sora with a grin.

Kairi soon left the dressing room, escorted by Cloud and Leon, leaving Riku and Cid with Sora and Roxas. They walked her to the exit of the building where her friends were waiting. Once she was safely on her way to talk and giggle with her friends elsewhere, Cloud and Leon made there way back to the hotel, stopping every once in a while to look at the different stands that were lining the streets.

"You can't have them up here, Leon." Said Cloud in warning.

"Sora and Roxas are with Cid, Axel and Riku. No one's gonna know." Leon had brought Seifer and Hayner up to look at the hotel room The Others were staying in. He could tell by the blonde's face that he was not convinced. "Two minutes?"

"Fine," Cloud said grudgingly. "But you keep an eye on them."

"Or," Leon said as he moved in closer. "I could just keep an eye on you."

Cloud laughed in spite of himself. "That's the stupidest line I've ever heard."

"Oh, I don't know. I've used some pretty bad ones." They both laughed at that.

Leon was about to lean in and kiss him when Seifer said happily, "So you told him." He slapped Leon on the back. "I told you, if you just tell him and explain it, he'd forgive you. Didn't I say that? I totally-" He stopped when he noticed the brunet was shacking his head. "Oh," he said. "So I guess... you didn't tell him... Well I think it's time for me and chicken wuss to leave." And with that he grabbed Hayner and left.

It was quiet for exactly one minute until Cloud finally spoke. "So, Seifer knows." Leon didn't reply. "Leon, I know you said you'd tell me after the mission was over, but I don't think I can wait."

"I think it would be best if you did." Leon said. "Believe me, you don't want this on your mind tomorrow when we're out in-"

"No," Said Cloud. "I can't wait. I thought I could, but I can't. For heaven's sake, Leon, Seifer even knows."

"Well it kind of involves him," said the brunet. At the look on Cloud's face he regretted saying it. "Cloud it's not like that, okay? He and I didn't- we _never-_ It's just... I really think it would be best if-"

"How do you know what's best for me?" Cloud said angrily. "Just tell me."

Just then Riku and Cid walked in with the twins. Cid looked pissed, as did Roxas. Sora looked upset as well. Riku was the only one who looked in high spirits. "They're all yours," Said Cid. "Good luck. Axel said he'd be here soon. Leon," he said to the brunet. "Would you mind staying till he gets here?" When Leon said he would Cid nodded and left, Riku staying behind.

Cloud was standing in the doorway that led to the other room and Leon was standing in the main room looking from one twin to the other. "You guys okay?" he asked.

"Fine." Snapped Roxas, never taking his eyes off Sora.

"Leon," said Cloud. It was clear that the blonde wasn't going to let their conversation drop this time.

Leon sighed. "Well, we'll be in here if you need us. Let us know when Axel gets here." He walked in to the other room behind Cloud, shutting the door as he went. "Cloud, I'm serious, this is-"

"Leon," Cloud said, crossing his arms.

Leon sat down on the edge of one of the beds and Cloud sat down on the other. Leon took his headset off and sat it next to himself. Cloud did the same then turned, looking at him expectantly.

"Before I tell you," he began. "I need you to know that I love you. You mean everything to me and I just... I'm so sorry. If I had known..." He looked away and ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn't keep apologizing for something the blonde knew nothing about. So he told him. He told him everything, stopping only to breathe. He didn't look up until he was done, afraid to see the look on the blonde's face.

Cloud was staring at him. Or rather, past him, his eyes unfocused and his mouth open slightly.

"Cloud, I am so, so sorry." Leon reached out his hand to touch Cloud's knee but the blonde knocked it away and stood up.

"No," Cloud shook his head, looking at Leon in disbelief as he backed away. "No, no, no." Leon stood up as well and tried to comfort the blonde but he was pushed away roughly. Cloud's whole body was shaking. "No," he said again, this time louder, tears starting to fall from his eyes. Disgust and denial written all over his face. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"Because you wouldn't let me wait til tomorrow." Leon said.

"No," said the blonde, his voice wavering. "Why are you only _now_ telling me this? We've been dating for-" he chocked on the words, biting his bottom lip to stop it from shaking.

"I didn't realize it had been you til that afternoon we bumped into Seifer." he said. "And I wasn't sure til that night... I was afraid to tell you."

"Leon..." Cloud said, more tears fell as he backed away even farther until his back hit the wall, "that was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life..."

"I know and I am so, so sorry." He wanted to hold the blonde, to tell him it would all be okay. But he himself wasn't sure if it would. And it would be wrong to try and hold the blonde when he could see every ounce of trust Cloud had ever had in him was leaving with every tear shed. Cloud sank to the floor and hid his face in his hands. Leon knelt down in front of him. "Cloud," he said, his voice strained from the tears that had yet to fall. "I am so, so, so sorry." He put his hand on Cloud's knee and the blonde flinched away.

"Don't," he said in a chocked voice. "I- I can't..." He shook his head. "I can't, I can't, I can't." He said this over and over, visibly curling in on himself.

Leon remembered other times Cloud had acted like this. The first few times the police asked him to tell them what happened with Sephiroth. The first hundred times he saw even the smallest of flames after being released from the hospital. The first time they had kissed... All because of Sephiroth. '_No,' _Leon corrected himself. '_All because of me. If I hadn't let Seifer talk me into it... none of this would have happened. He would have never been in that hospital. He would have never met Sephiroth. And he wouldn't be crying on the floor right now.'_

"I need you to leave," said the blonde as he rocked back and forth. "I can't have you here. I can't, I can't, I can't."

Leon made a shushing sound. He wanted to argue, he didn't think he should leave the blonde by himself while he was like this. But he also didn't want to upset him more. "Okay," he nodded. He stood up and grabbed his headset from off the bed. He hesitated before he left the room, turning and looking at the blonde huddled up on the floor.

Cloud sat there curled up until he heard the door close. It took him several minutes before he stood, only attempting it because he heard yelling from the other room. Legs shaky and head pounding he walked over to the door. He felt ill as he wiped at his face, trying to get rid of the evidence of the tears that had and still wanted to escape his eyes.

When he opened the door the volume of the yelling grew.

"God, I hate you! He's psychotic. He'll do whatever it takes to remain in control, and you can't fucking see that!"

"Roxas," said Sora, tears leaking from his eyes. "I..."

"No. Fuck you. Fuck you, fuck this family, and fuck this stupid festival. I'm done." With that, he ran out the door.

"Shit," said Cloud. He couldn't leave Sora alone but someone needed to go after Roxas. Maybe Leon hadn't left the building yet? He didn't want to talk to Leon. Didn't want to even think about him, but the mission was more important. He turned on his headset and hoped Leon had done the same. He pressed the button on the side. "Leon?"

"_Already on it."_

It was Riku's voice. Leon hadn't turned his headset on. Cloud couldn't decide whether he was glad the brunet hadn't answered or not.

Just then Axel came through the door. He took in the sight of Sora on his bed crying and Cloud with blood shot eyes, clearly from crying himself. "What's up?"

"Roxas ran off. He and Sora had a fight. Riku's out right now-," he stopped talking when he heard Riku over the head set.

"_Cloud, I lost him._"

"Shit."

"_I'm going to call Cid and get a search party going. Is Axel there yet?"_

"Okay. Yeah he got here a minute ago. I'm going to call Vincent and see if he'll help."

"_Good idea._" Said Riku.

Cloud called Vincent and told him what had happened, asking him to look for Roxas. He called Leon, hoping the brunet would be able to find him if Vincent wasn't able to. He then called Cid. Cid had made his way to the hotel the moment Cloud called him to tell him Roxas had run away. When the older blonde arrived Cloud started filling him in about the fight between Roxas and Sora. They tried to get more information out of Sora but it was difficult to decipher the words between the sobs.

Cloud and Cid talked about Cid's time as Ansem's head of security. Though hesitant at first, Cid admits there were less than honorable goings on at the Company. It had been many years ago, but Cid said that if anything has changed, he doubts it was for the better.

"Do we have any idea of where he might have gone?" Asked Axel.

"No, but we have Leon and Vincent out looking for him right now. Riku's on his way back. Once he gets here I'm going to head out as well. We have the city's main security guarding all ways in and out of town, just in case." Said Cloud.

"Good. I should go too." Said Axel, preparing to leave.

"Someone needs to stay here with Sora." Said Cloud.

"What about Cid?" Asked Axel.

"He needs to stay in touch with the city's guards."

"What about Riku?" Axel asked, annoyed at the time lost just by having this conversation.

"He will be heading out to meet up with Demyx and Titus, just in case Roxas goes to them."

Axel grit his teeth. "Or," he said, careful of the words he was about to say. "He could stay here and I could go meet up with them."

"Axel," said Cid. "Enough arguing."

"But-"

"No buts. The truth is you have an emotional attachment to the kid and we can't risk you messing anything up."

"What am I going to mess up? So what if I have an attachment to him? Wouldn't that mean I'd want to find him _more_ than anyone else?" Cloud and Cid exchanged a look. "What?" The redhead nearly shouted.

"We need to get him back here, Axel." Said Cloud.

"And you don't think I can do that?"

"I think he might persuade you into letting him go." Said Cloud calmly.

"That's bull." Said Axel angrily.

"Tough." Said Cid.

The two glared at each other until Riku walked through the door, followed by Tifa and Yuffie.

After discussing the plan of having Cloud go out into the city and having Riku go meet up with Tidus and Demyx, Riku tells them about the phone call he had _accidentally_ overheard between Roxas and Ansem.

Cloud had been searching through the industrial district for over two hours, radioing Cid whenever he cleared a section when his phone rang. _Leon Lionheart g_lowed on the screen. "Hey," he said.

"Found him." Cloud breathed a sigh of relief. "He was with Vincent at the Great Maw. We're heading back now- Oh, fuck."

Cloud heard a clatter and thuds over the phone. "Leon? Leon, what happened?" No reply. "Damn it." He said, breaking out into a run. He pressed the button on his headset. "Cid, Leon found Roxas at The Great Maw. Something's wrong though. I'm heading there right now. Send backup."

"_Roger that." _


End file.
